Our Juries

Neele Leana Vollmar

Neele Leana Vollmar was born in Bremen in 1978. From 1999 to 2000, she worked as a freelance assistant director on various productions before beginning her studies at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Directing Scenic Film, at the end of 2000. Her short film MEINE ELTERN, which she made as part of her studies in 2003, won several international awards. In the same year, she took part in the Berlinale Talent Campus and the master class The Hollywood Perspective at UCLA/Los Angeles. She completed her studies in Ludwigsburg in 2005 with her first feature film URLAUB VOM LEBEN, which opened the Hof Film Festival.

Since then, Neele Leana Vollmar has mainly made feature films (including MARIA, IHM SCHMECKT’S NICHT!, RICO, OSKAR UND DIE TIEFERSCHATTEN, MEIN LOTTA LEBEN, AUERHAUS). The RICO AND OSKAR films in particular attracted a great deal of attention and won many awards (including the German Film Award and the Bavarian Film Award). AUERHAUS was the first film for which she also wrote the screenplay.

In 2023, she realized the mini-series LEVI STRAUSS – DER STOFF DER TRÄUME (written and directed), which was broadcast on ARD in January 2025. In the fall of 2024, Neele Vollmar shot her own feature film RITA UND HANS (AT), which is currently in post-production.

Trystan Pütter

Trystan Pütter was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1980. After studying art in Vienna, he began his acting career at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in a production by René Pollesch. He then performed on various theater stages, including in productions by Frank Castorf and in several by René Pollesch.

Pütter made his screen debut in 2005 in Ulrich Köhler’s “Montag kommen die Fenster”. He then played major and minor roles in numerous cinema and TV productions: “Hilde” by Kai Wessel, “Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter” by Philipp Kadelbach, “Passion” by Brian de Palma, “Phoenix” by Christian Petzold. In 2016, Pütter appeared in the award-winning film by Maren Ade, “Toni Erdmann”, the event series “Ku’damm 56” by director Sven Bohse and “Rico, Oskar und der Diebstahlstein” by Neele Leana Vollmar, among others. He shot “Freies Land” for Christian Alvart.

He was part of the ensemble of the acclaimed series “Bad Banks” (director: Christian Zübert) and “Babylon Berlin” (directors: Achim von Borries, Henk Handloegten, Tom Tykwer). Other recent projects include “Das Boot – Staffel 3” and most recently in “Sabbatical” by Judith Angerbauer, which celebrated its world premiere at the Munich Film Festival 2024 in the New German Cinema series, as well as in David Dietl’s “Feste Freunde”, which is currently showing in cinemas.

Bill Eagles

Bill Eagles is a British film and television director.

Bill’s television work includes high profile dramas, both in the UK and US, directing shows such as Bruno Heller’s Pennyworth, Strike Back (which he also Executive Produced), Powers, Gotham, State of Af-fairs and The Mentalist. Bill also set up ITV drama The Good Karma Hos-pital. Bill directed Reunion an original thriller written by Marston Bloom for MGM.

Bill directed two episodes of Who is Erin Carter for Left Bank and Netflix which quickly became the Number One Most Viewed show on the plat-form after its launch.

Most recently Bill directed the third episode of the Enid Blyton adapta-tion The Famous Five for the BBC and Moonage, executive produced by Nicolas Winding Refn.

Lucia Eskes

Lucia Eskes was in charge of press and public relations at the European Center for Media Competence before joining the Grimme Award team at the Grimme Institute in 2010. There she was responsible for the content and organization of the competition and has been the head of the Grimme Prize since 2016.

Sophie Linnenbaum

After completing a degree in psychology and working as a playwright, director and author Sophie Linnenbaum studied directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. In addition to her nationally and internationally award-winning short films, she also directs TV shows and documentaries. Her first feature film THE ORDINARIES had its international premiere in the main competition of the International Film Festival Karlovy Vary, was awarded the Förderpreis Regie at the Munich Film Festival and won the First Steps Award for best feature-length film.

Malte Can

Born in Achim in 1983 and grew up in Bremen. Studied German and Turkology in Hamburg and Istanbul. Subsequently studied production at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy (VGF scholarship at UCLA, Los Angeles).
He then worked as a producer for H&V Entertainment and as a producer for Geißendörfer Pictures GmbH. Film selection includes “Souls – a Sky Original” (2 awards in Cannes Series 2022) and the feature film “Der Fuchs” (Silberne Lola Best Feature Film 2024 and Best Leading Actor, as well as Romy – Best Feature Film Austria).
Working as a producer for Wiedemann & Berg Television since 2023.

Peter Roloff

Peter Roloff studied social and business communication at the Berlin University of the Arts, is a filmmaker and producer and runs maxim film Produktion in Bremen and Berlin with a current focus on long documentaries.

Susanne Hensdiek 

Susanne Hensdiek came to the camera via an editorial career in radio and newspapers. From 1997, she worked at Television Aktuell in Bremen, where she later became head camerawoman and editor. She has been working as a freelance filmmaker, editor and camerawoman since 2005. In 2023, her documentary “Die Bergmanns” won the audience award for the best Bremen film at the Filmfest Bremen.

Ronald Schwarz

Ronald Schwarze (55) is an expert in location marketing for the ports of Bremen and has extensive experience in the logistics sector. Over the course of his professional career, he has traveled to numerous ports around the world, getting to know not only their economic importance, but also their cultural facets. His fascination for foreign cultures is reflected in his passion for films and series. As a self-confessed TV show junkie and film enthusiast, he particularly appreciates stories that broaden the view beyond his own horizons. On the Filmfest jury, he judges the “Ports” category with a trained eye for authenticity and maritime narrative power.

Kai Stührenberg

Kai Stührenberg was born on 28.11.1964 in Bremen, is married and has three children. After graduating from high school, he studied business administration at Bremen University of Applied Sciences, majoring in sales/marketing and human resources and training. Kai Stührenberg is a member of the party Die Linke and has held management positions in business for many years. Most recently, he held the position of press spokesman for the Senator for Economics, Labor and Europe. From 01.11.2020 to 04.07.2023 he was State Councillor at the Senator for Economic Affairs, Labor and Europe, responsible for the areas of Labor and Europe. Since 05.07.2023, he has been State Councillor for Ports at the Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation.

Ilona Rieke

Ilona Rieke is Co-Managing Director of Filmbüro Bremen and Artistic Director of Filmfest Bremen. She watches around 1,000 films a year, reads several hundred film ideas and scripts and believes that the cinema is still the best place to experience film. She believes in film as an art form and as a source of inspiration for social discussions. She has always been fascinated by ports as places of departure and trade.

Beatrix Schwehm

She has been working as a documentary filmmaker and producer in Bremen for many years. Her films have received several awards and have been presented at national and international film festivals, including the Grimme Prize, the main prize at the International Documentary Film Festival in Palermo and, as a producer, the ARD programme award for Luise & Mohamed – Departure to Algiers.

As a lecturer, she teaches at various universities, including the Hfbk and the HafenCityUniversität (HCU) in Hamburg, the HFF Munich, as well as at the universities of Göttingen, Münster and Maastricht. For several years now, she has been accompanying filmmakers and students in the field of dramaturgy, directing and production. Detailed information on the films, awards and lecturer activities can be found on the website

www.beatrix-schwehm-film.de

Freddy Radeke

He got his media start at the radio station “Bremen Vier” as a reporter and comedy writer.

For the Radio Bremen regional magazine program “buten un binnen”, he was on the road for 8 years with his green duck in his weekly column “Panne bei …” on reconnaissance trips in the region, producing 400 episodes.
From 2013 to 2014, he worked for the first two seasons of “Neo Magazin” (Jan Böhmermann) as an author and producer. Since 2014, he has been the author and one of the faces of the satire program “Extra 3”.

In 2024, his first own sketch comedy series “Gags – Comedy Deluxe” appeared in the ARD Mediathek.

Lars Rosentreter

In fact, his nickname could be Loki, a brief overview of his positions: local newspaper, local radio, local television. But friends call him Rosi. He was already a global traveler in seventh grade, filming Playmobil figures on an adventure safari at the garden pond at home with his father’s Super 8 camera. Journalism came along a little later. A native of Bremen who wants to remain a local cross-border commuter: he loves living on the wrong side of the Weser and is passionate about working on the right side as head of the editorial team at buten un binnen.

Björn Jantzen

Since completing his Master’s degree in “Professional Public Decision Making” in 2016, he has been working at BAB-Die Förderbank für Bremen und Bremerhaven, initially as a project manager for energy efficiency and sustainability and now as a sustainability manager.

Dr. Michaela Mayer 

Dr. Mayer holds a doctorate in biology. She specializes in sustainability in her voluntary work for the Bremen Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and professionally at INASEA in Bremen.

Simona Theoharova