The annual platform spotlights the most exciting rising and established talents working across various disciplines in film and TV in the country today.

German Films, the national information and advisory center for the promotion of German films worldwide, today announced the talent who will feature in its 7^th annual signature FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS campaign. The prestigious, high-profile platform aims to bring international visibility to the wealth of ground-breaking talent currently working in film and TV in Germany and shaping the future of the industry.

2022’s FACES are: documentary writer-director Sarah Noa Bozenhardt (AMONG US WOMEN), actor-producer-writer Sara Fazilat (NICO), actor-director Jerry Hoffmann (SHAHADA), film editor Julia Kovalenko (SYSTEM CRASHER), writer-director Matthias Luthardt (PINGPONG), cinematographer and director Zamarin Wahdat [LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)] and actor Anne Zander (FOR JOJO).

After spotlighting globally renowned actors, writers and directors such as Saskia Rosendahl (LORE), Alexander Fehling (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, HOMELAND), Burhan Qurbani (BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ) and Jonas Nay (DEUTSCHLAND 83, 86 & 89) in its first five years, the 2021 FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS – THE FILMMAKERS campaign broadened its scope to include various disciplines in order to display the diversity of exceptional talent across the entirety of this collaborative craft.

In 2022, FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS – THE FILMMAKERS continues with this objective, representing a cross-section of the many creative faces of German filmmaking and focusing on personalities with very different biographies, artistic approaches, influences and perspectives.

German Films Managing Director Simone Baumann commented: “We are delighted to honor these seven talented filmmakers as ambassadors of our 2022 FACE TO FACE campaign. Their work addresses issues as diverse as their professional backgrounds and personal stories. They represent the drive to innovate, be inclusive and push boundaries that is appearing in film and TV in Germany.”

Documentary filmmaker and aspiring writer Sarah Noa Bozenhardt has examined socio-political issues of womanhood in her work and found a source of inspiration in the relationships and experiences she had during her upbringing in her second homeland of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her filmography includes MEDANIT and HEIMFAHRT, and her feature documentary debut AMONG US WOMEN had its world premiere at DOK Leipzig in October 2021, where it received a special mention in the international competition.

Actor, producer and screenwriter Sara Fazilat has been on the rise since she was selected for the Berlinale Talents program in 2017. Her filmography includes THE FOX, CHECK CHECK, THE HEIST, LOUISE, Cannes selection REVOLVO and JIYAN. NICO, a film about how a racist attack changes a young woman’s life which Fazilat produced, starred in and helped write, screened at Shanghai International Film Festival and Frameline Film Festival San Francisco, amongst others, and won her several awards, including the Max Ophüls Prize (Best Young Actress). She can next be seen in Cannes winner Ali Abbasi’s latest, HOLY SPIDER.

Award-winning actor and director Jerry Hoffmann got his break-out role in Burhan Qurbani’s globally acclaimed SHAHADA. In addition to his work in film and TV, he has performed extensively onstage, including as an ensemble member of the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. His filmography features lead roles in HEIL, ABIKALYPSE and NEEDLE PARK BABY. As a director, his short films MALL and 90% have screened at festivals and won awards internationally, and I AM, an arthouse sci-fi thriller, qualified for the 2022 Academy Awards and screened at the Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. He can next be seen in the Netflix series A SUBMARINE STORY.

Film editor Julia Kovalenko hails from Russia and moved to Germany as a child. In addition to several award-winning short films such as Clemens Roth’s THE FANTASTIC LOVE OF BEEBOY & FLOWERGIRL and Jerry Hoffmann’s I AM, she has worked on many TV productions and feature films. She collaborated with editor Stephan Bechinger on the award-winning SYSTEM CRASHER, Germany’s entry for the 92nd Academy Awards and winner of the German Film Award for Best Editing. Her next project is DARK SATELLITES, a collaboration with editor Kaya Inan and director Thomas Stuber slated for theatrical release in Germany in 2022.

Writer and director Matthias Luthardt fostered a passion for French cinema since his student days and came to international attention with his award-winning debut PINGPONG, a coming-of-age drama, which had its world premiere at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique. Several feature films and documentaries have followed, including MEMORY, CINÉKINO and AUTUMN 1929 – SHADOWS ABOVE BABYLON. His latest directorial effort is World War I-set German-French co-production THE FOX, starring Luise Aschenbrenner, Christa Théret and Leonard Kunz. Luthardt is a member of the European Film Academy.

Cinematographer and director Zamarin Wahdat was born in Kabul and grew up in Hamburg. As a student, she was spotted by director Carol Dysinger and asked to work as a visual designer and translator on LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU'RE A GIRL), which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short in 2020. Shortly after, Wahdat made her directorial debut, BAMBIRAK, a short film about the everyday racism experienced by people with an immigrant background in Germany, which won Best International Short Film at Sundance International Film Festival in 2021. She is currently working on a feature-length adaptation of BAMBIRAK in addition to other short film projects and a documentary about activist Sarah Mardini.

Actor and performer Anne Zander’s filmography includes the series TATORT – BOROWSKI UND DER FLUCH DER WEIßEN MÖWE, feature film FENSTER BLAU and short film OFFICE. As a deaf person, Zander still experiences intersectionality in her everyday life and as a result, is committed to improving diversity and inclusion in the German film and media industries. In 2022, Zander can be seen in two major productions. She stars in her first leading role in ZDF TV drama DU SOLLST HÖREN opposite Claudia Michelsen and Kai Wiesinger, and in the Netflix Original film FOR JOJO, directed by Barbara Ott.

Sarah Noa Bozenhardt, Sara Fazilat, Jerry Hoffmann, Julia Kovalenko, Matthias Luthardt, Zamarin Wahdat and Anne Zander, along with German Films Managing Director Simone Baumann, are available for interviews and will be completing in-person interviews at next month’s Berlin International Film Festival.