Curatorium Young German Cinema –
a new chapter in the support of young film talents

“It’s a unique opportunity for me to be part of this new chapter in the history of Germany’s oldest film funding institution,” says Christina Bentlage who took up the post of managing director of the Curatorium Young German Cin­ema (Kuratorium junger deutscher Film) at the beginning of 2026.

“During the six decades since its founding, the Curatorium has championed the supporting of artistic freedom and new cinematic styles,” notes Bentlage, who had previously served as Head of Film Funding at Film- und Medien­stiftung NRW, the regional film fund for North Rhine-West­phalia, for many years.

“We will now be continuing this tradition by expanding the Curatorium into a central point of contact and institution in Germany which is dedicated to talented filmmakers.”

Launched in 1965 on the basis of a decree issued by the then Federal Interior Minister Hermann Höcherl in the wake of young filmmakers’ demands as set out in the Oberhausen Manifesto, the Curatorium subsequently has played a crucial role over the years, in particular, in the development of what became known in the 1970s as the internationally feted New German Cinema to support debut and second features.

YESTERDAY GIRL by Alexander Kluge © Kairos-Film Dr. Alexander Kluge

The first project to be backed by the Curatorium, which operates out of a wing of Schloß Biebrich on the banks of the River Rhine in Wiesbaden, was the debut feature YESTERDAY’S GIRL by the late Alexander Kluge which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1966 and was awarded the Silver Lion.

Since then, filmmakers as diverse as Wim Wenders, Ulrike Ottinger, Roland Emmerich, Feo Aladag, Tom Tykwer, Doris Dörrie, Nora Fingscheidt, and Veit Helmer have received financial support from their first forays into feature-length films.

THE LIGHT‘S THEY FALL by Saša Varda © Vajda film

Among the latest projects to be realised with involvement from the Curatorium include self-taught filmmaker Saša Varda’s The LIGHTS, THEY FALL, which had its world premiere in the Generation 14plus sidebar at this year’s Berlinale as well as Reza Memari’s animated feature THE LAST WHALE SINGER, Leonie Krippendorff’s love story PEELED SKIN and Anne Koch and Julia Lemke’s children’s film CIRCUSBOY.

In recent years, the Curatorium had taken the decision to concentrate the modest annual budget provided by the 16 federal states (Länder) on supporting project development rather than investing in production funding.

Last year, for example, the jury for project development awarded funding to Benjamin Radjaipour’s queer independent/coming of age/fantasy tale CAMOUFLAGE, Dyaa Naim’s age/fantasy tale CAMOUFLAGE, Dyaa Naim’s tragicomedy FAMILIENBILD set between Berlin and Syria, and Laura Harwarth’s mother-daughter drama QUEEN OF BOOM.

THE LAST WHALE SINGER by Reza Memari© Telescope Animations

The challenges faced by newcomers wanting to make their entree into the film industry and direct their first feature film prompted the creation in 2021 of the Forum Talentfilm initiated by the Curatorium with the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis and PROG Producers of Germany (formerly Produzent:innenverband).

“This initiative created a network and platform for a debate between young talents and representatives of the industry and decision makers on strategies for improving the conditions for debutants in Germany,” Bentlage recalls.

“The first Forum was held at the Curatorium’s headquarters in Schloß Biebrich and a second event at North Rhine-Westphalia’s representa­tion in Berlin in April 2025 focused on the visibility and distribution of newcomers’ films.”

“Active lobbying and input by the Forum’s initiators during the discussion on the future makeup of the German Film Law (FFG) and reforming of Germany’s national film funding programme resulted in a great success for the Curatorium’s work for the future and this has been made possible thanks to significantly increased funding by the Länder and the federal government in Berlin from this year,” Bentlage explains.

While the Länder have now committed to provide a total of € 1.2 million funding each year to support newcomers in the development of their film projects’ treatments and screenplays, the BKM under State Minister Wolfram Weimer has stumped up € 7.85 million to a dedicated production fund for first and second feature films by up-and-coming filmmaking talents.

ZIRKUSKIND by Anne Koch and Julia Lemke © Flare Film

Administered by the Curatorium in cooperation with the BKM, this fund will provide up to € 500,000 for individual feature film projects with production costs not exceeding € 2 million. The amount being allocated may be increased to € 1 million in exceptional cases.

“It’s important to say that the focus for the Curatorium is always on the feature-length film format and we are looking to select projects that are also aiming to be successful when released in the cinemas,” Bentlage says.

She adds that the support from this fund can act as a kind of catalyst or seal of approval to be able to attract additional production funding, whether it is from one of the German regional film funds or long-standing supporters of up-and-coming filmmakers such as public broadcaster ZDF’s Das kleine Fernsehspiel or the editorial departments of ARD member stations dedicated to debut features.

It’s important to note, though, that the Curatorium’s remit does not stretch to supporting graduation films from film school students.

For such projects, there are the dedicated funding programmes open to film students’ projects operated by such regional funds as FFF Bayern, Film- und Medienstiftung and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as well as the non-profit organisation YTF Young Talent Foundation Berlin whose aim is to financially support young film talent in Germany of all nationalities and mentor them on their way into a professional career in the film industry.

But, as Bentlage points out, the Curatorium is open to projects in all genres: “it was really pleasing in the first round of submissions this year to see that there was such a great diversity. While dramas were a dominant feature, there were also comedies, and horror and suspense also featured.”

PEELED SKIN by Leonie Krippendorff © Square OneEntertainment / Peter Hartwig

Meanwhile, she places special emphasis on how the selection for supporting project development is decided: to begin with, the filmmakers have an opportunity to speak in person to the jury about their projects after an initial analysis of the various elements of the application.

And there have been conscious attempts in the composition of the juries to have a wide range of views, backgrounds and track records represented.

Thus, for example, the jury for feature film project development and production includes producer Luise Hauschild of Leipzig/Berlin-based New Matter Films, producer and re-recording mixer Ansgar Frerich of Basis Berlin Postproduction and director Jessica Krummacher (THE DEATH OF MOTHER).

“The jury stays constant for each funding session and they are appointed for a term of three years, although we have substitutes if they are prevented from taking on the jury work be­cause they are involved in the making of a film,” Bentlage explains.

This pool of substitutes who can step in for jury colleagues if necessary includes writer-director Faraz Shariat, whose second feature film PROSECUTION premiered at this year’s Berlinale, Berlin-based producer Alexandra Krampe and documentary filmmaker Lilian Franck.

Meanwhile, the response from the potential beneficiaries of the Curatorium’s newly enhanced role has been extremely positive as the number of submissions of projects for development and production support in the first funding round at the beginning of this year shows.

“Naturally, many people were waiting last year for the introduction of a scheme to support young talent and for the Curatorium to have a bigger budget, so it’s not surprising that we had submissions running into three digits!” Bentlage declares.

Martin Blaney