Presentation “The Reform of the German Film Funding System”: Overview of the ongoing reform of the German funding landscape and what it means for international partners
Germany’s federal film funding system is undergoing the most far-reaching reform in decades. The federal government is setting the course for a new framework with expanded funding instruments and increased financial resources.
This presentation provides a concise overview of the current reform measures, their political objectives, and their practical impact on production conditions and financing opportunities. Particular attention is given to what these changes mean for international partners, from improved incentives to new opportunities for collaboration within the German market.
Roundtable “Practical Co-Production Strategies for Coproductions with Germany”: A conversation with German producers on practical questions regarding European Coproductions.
This roundtable brings together leading German producers to discuss the practical realities of European co-productions with Germany. Focusing on hands-on experience, the session explores key questions around structuring partnerships, navigating funding frameworks, and aligning creative and financial interests across borders.
Participants Marc Bauder and Tanja Georgiewa-Waldhauer share insights, best practices, and lessons learned from recent projects.
This event is designed as an interactive exchange, with a strong focus on audience participation. Participants are explicitly invited to bring their questions and engage directly with the speakers.
Participants:
Marc Bauder, Johannes Kagerer, Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer (online)
Moderator:
Johannes Kagerer
Marc Bauder is a German director and producer. Marc was born in Stuttgart in 1974 and studied business in Cologne, St. Gallen, and New York. He began working as a director during his studies and founded the production company Bauderfilm in 1999. After embarking on a degree in production from HFF Konrad Wolf in Potsdam-Babelsberg in 2001, he broke off his studies after three semesters to concentrate on directing full-time.
In 2011, he debuted his award-winning feature film The System. In 2014, Marc won the European Film Prize with his documentary Master of the Universe and developed Lichtgrenze for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, together with his brother Christopher. In 2017, Marc won the Grimme Prize for his fiction film Dead Man Working. Marc is a member of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy.
Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer is a producer and co-producer whose films have premiered at leading international festivals and received numerous awards, including distinctions at IDFA, TIFF, Cannes, Berlinale, and the Academy Awards shortlist. Her most recent coproduction, Silent Flood by Dmytro Sukholytkyi-Sobchuk, won Best Cinematography at IDFA 2025.
Her first production, the WDR documentary Graveyard of the Illegals, received the European Media Award CIVIS for Best European Documentary. In 2015, she co-founded Elemag Pictures, expanding her slate to international fiction and documentary co-productions. Recent highlights include Erol Mintas’EarthSong (Rotterdam and Istanbul IFF 2026), Tim Ellrich’s In My Parents’ House (Special Tiger Award Rotterdam 2025), Roman Bondarchuk’s The Editorial Office (Berlinale Forum 2024), and Violet du Feng’s Hidden Letters (Tribeca 2022), alongside works by Emre Kayiş’s Anatolian Leopard (FIPRESCI Award, TIFF 2021), Vincent Cardona’s Magnetic Beats (Prix SACD, Cannes 2021), and Sonia Liza Kentermann’s Tailor (Tallinn Black Nights 2020) as well as Bondarchuk`s Volcano (2018 Karlovy Vary IFF 2018) and Ukrainian Sheriffs (Special Jury Award, IDFA 2015). Tanja is an alumna of the EAVE Producers Workshop, a former European Producer on the Move, Co-Curator of DOK Preview Germany, and a member of both the German and European Film Academies. She also serves as a Board Member of PROG–Producers of Germany.
Johannes Kagerer is a German media policy expert working at the intersection of politics, law, and the audiovisual industry. Since 2022, he has served as Head of Public Policy at the German Producers Alliance, following previous roles at the Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft (SPIO), in the German Bundestag, and in political communications. He holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Media Law from Humboldt University of Berlin and a Magister Artium from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, with additional studies at King’s College London and the University of Television and Film Munich. In 2020, he received the Willy Haas Prize for Peter Lilienthal Archiv 1, recognized as a significant contribution to German film heritage.
