
Acting
Maryam Zaree (Persian: مریم زارع; born July 22, 1983, in Tehran, Iran) is a German actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has appeared in various European film productions and gained recognition for lead roles in films such as *Shahada*, as well as for her award-winning performance in the series *4 Blocks*, for which she received the Grimme Prize in 2018. She made her directorial debut with the documentary *Born in Evin*, which explores her birth inside Evin Prison and won the German Film Award for Best Documentary in 2020. Maryam Zaree was born in Evin Prison in the Iranian capital, Tehran. In 1985, her mother, Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, fled with her to Germany to escape political persecution. From the age of two, Zaree grew up in Frankfurt am Main. From 2004 to 2008, she studied acting at the Konrad Wolf University of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. While still a student, she participated in various film and television productions. Zaree rose to prominence through her lead role in the feature film *Shahada*, which screened in the Official Competition at the Berlinale in 2010 and received multiple awards at international festivals. For her performance, she received—among other honors—the Best Leading Performance award at the Monterrey Film Festival in Mexico, as well as a Special Mention at the Ghent International Film Festival. She went on to play other lead roles in films such as *Abgebrannt*, *Marry Me*, and the international co-production *I Am Not Him* by Tayfun Pirselimoğlu. On German television, she appeared from 2015 to 2019 as forensic pathologist Nasrin Reza in the Berlin-based *Tatort* series. In the series *4 Blocks*, she played the role of Khalila. In addition to her work in front of the camera, Zaree has also appeared as a guest actress at various theaters, including the Schauspielhaus Hannover, the Maxim Gorki Theater, the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, and the Ballhaus Naunynstraße. Zaree also works as a writer and director. With her first play, *Kluge Gefühle*, she won the Authors' Prize at the Heidelberg Play Market in 2017, as well as the Advancement Award of the Schiller Memorial Prize in 2019. Also in 2019, she was awarded a writer-in-residence position at London’s Royal Court Theatre. With her directorial debut, *Born in Evin*, she returned to her own personal history, exploring the circumstances of her birth inside Evin Prison in Iran. The documentary premiered at the Berlinale in 2019, where it received the Compass-Perspektive-Prize, and went on to win the German Film Award for Best Documentary in 2020. That same year, Zaree served as a member of the jury for the Amnesty International Film Prize at the Berlinale.

Police officers Kessel and Driller are supposed to be on the lookout for an internationally wanted war criminal. But Kessel is a junkie, gets into a fight with a young dealer and runs the man over. His colleague Driller covers all the tracks, but cannot prevent an ambitious public prosecutor from trying to solve the incident. However, the two of them have a much bigger problem: the crime has made Kessel vulnerable to blackmail.

Pelin, a young single mother from the problem neighborhood of Berlin-Wedding, is sent with her three children by different fathers of different nationalities - Robby (seven), Elvis (four) and Roxanne (ten months) - to a mother-child cure in a scenic, paradisiacal spa resort in northern Germany. The cure is intended to give Pelin, who is constantly on a collision course with the youth welfare office and family court, time to reflect and recover physically and mentally.

On a barren island, a mother and son confront years of silence and misunderstandings in writer-director Hanna Slak’s formidable fourth feature film starring Maren Eggert, scored by Amélie Legrand, and shot by Claire Mathon.

Before Christmas, the angels have the mission to make happier 70% of the people. The story is based on angel Uriel and two new angels helping him.

Nihat, an introverted employee in a hospital cafeteria, is confused by Ayşe, a mysterious woman who just started working there as a dishwasher. Her obvious seductive approaches embarrass Nihat and make him nervous at the same time. Despite the rumors about her husband having been sentenced to many years in jail, Nihat reluctantly accepts Ayşe’s invitation to dinner at her house. This is the beginning of a strange and dangerous liaison. When Nihat discovers a picture of the woman’s husband and realizes that he looks astoundingly like him, the relation becomes even more toxic.

Four men’s destinies slam into each other and intertwine on four balmy summer nights. Old wounds are reopened, new ones appear, unexpectedly there is a new closeness. And, when the sun rises over the city and the striking garbage men, finally ensure German order again, nothing is the same for these four men.

It's Lene's first day back at work after some time off. Friends and acquaintances, regulars and strangers come to her jazz and blues bar. While Lene is waiting for Danish musician Leif, who is scheduled to perform tonight, the guests discuss all kinds of topics, ranging from pop music by elves and invisible cell phones to maggots eating away at corpses. But what if Leif doesn't show up at all?

At first glance, Leyla and Tristan are a happy couple. When they travel to a mysterious island, a game of identities begins that changes everything – their perception, their sexuality, their entire selves. But not only their relationship threatens to break up. They may even never be who they used to be again…

The fates of three German-born Muslims in Berlin collide as they struggle to find their place between faith and modern life in contemporary western society, caught at a crossroads where alluring liberated lifestyles conflict with deeply-rooted traditions.

Kishori, unmarried and mother to a daughter, and her sister Sonal live in a house in Berlin. The house and a cafe on the ground floor are led by Kishori. All of a sudden, her strict and traditional grandmother comes for a visit from India. She wants to sell the house unless Kishori agrees to marry the father of her daughter, Robert. As Kishori feels obliged to all the befriended inhabitants of the house, including Robert, to keep the house, Kishori und Robert prepare to have a traditional Indian wedding.

Follows filmmaker and actress, Maryam Zaree, on her quest to find out the violent circumstances surrounding her birth inside one of the most notorious political prisons in the world.

Follows filmmaker and actress, Maryam Zaree, on her quest to find out the violent circumstances surrounding her birth inside one of the most notorious political prisons in the world.

Follows filmmaker and actress, Maryam Zaree, on her quest to find out the violent circumstances surrounding her birth inside one of the most notorious political prisons in the world.
Sina and her best friend Aleks are young teenagers of immigrant origin in Germany in 1993, but a film project on a school trip puts their symbiotic friendship to the test.
Sina and her best friend Aleks are young teenagers of immigrant origin in Germany in 1993, but a film project on a school trip puts their symbiotic friendship to the test.

