Nipkow Programm

COCO Call for Projects is still open!💥

Apply for connecting cottbus 2026 with your project in development or (post-)production

📌 cocoPITCH: Deadline 15 July
📌 cocoWIP: Deadline 21 August

📥 Application link in the first comment 👇
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Nipkow Fellows take over Cannes:
Federico Luis, one of our freshly selected grant holders, was awarded the Palme d'Or for best short film. His prize was handed over by Carla Simón, a Nipkow alumna. What a nice coincidence!

Meet our new Nipkow fellows for 2026!
We are thrilled to present our grant holders from all over the world:

Aliocha Allard – France
Assel Aushakimova – Kazakhstan
Daniel Barosa – Brazil
Luis Federico – Argentina
Laura Garcia Andreu – Spain
Emre Kayis – Turkey
Juan Paulo Laserna – Colombia
Ivana Marinic Kragic – Croatia
Elena Mekaberidze – Georgia
Vardan Tozija – North Macedonia

Congratulations! Looking forward to welcoming you guys here.

Nipkow alumna Carla Simón continues to shine! 💫💫💫

Golden Bear-winning Nipkow alumna Carla Simón will preside over the jury for short films and the La Cinef prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival 👏👏👏

The Spanish director took part in Nipkow Programm in 2018 to work on her project "Alcarràs", which went on to win the Berlinale’s top prize in 2022. Carla's latest work "Romería" was selected for Cannes Competition last year 🤩

“A short film is a whole universe. In just a few minutes it can leave a lasting mark forever. Created in freedom, driven by artistic risk, and above all infused with soul, it reconnects me with the essence of cinema and the excitement of first times. Even for those who work in feature filmmaking, the short form remains a vital space for experimentation and renewal. I am deeply honoured to serve as President of the Short Films and La Cinef Jury, and grateful for the opportunity to discover new voices and be transformed. Returning to Cannes is, once again, an adventure, a dream and a privilege.” - Carla Simón, President of the short films and La Cinef Jury

📷 Carla Simón © David Ruano / Salim Kechiouche © Matthieu Dortomb / Park Ji-Min © Marie Rouge / Unifrance / Magnus Von Horn © Kacper Żywicki / Ali Asgari © Amir Naseri

Great first reviews for former Nipkow fellow, director Assaf Machnes’ debut film
“Where To?”, which premiered in the Berlinale’s Perspectives section. Assaf developed the film at Nipkow in 2021 and final feature is a collaboration between Israelis, Palestinians and Germans: "I'm proud to make a film that suggests dialogue."

Berlin Hidden Gem: A Palestinian Uber Driver and a Young Israeli Form a Bond in Assaf Machnes’ Timely Drama ‘Where To?’ The Israeli writer-director's first feature, debuting in Perspectives on Feb. 17, is a collaboration between Israelis, Palestinians and Germans: "I'm proud to make a film that suggests dialogue."

Following the world premiere of “Roya” at the Berlinale in Panorama section, director Mahnaz Mohammadi sat down with Cineuropa to discuss her approach to depicting her main character, a teacher imprisoned in Tehran for her political beliefs.
Mahnaz has visited the Nipkow Programm a number of times, including in 2021, where she worked on her screenplay for the film.

Read the whole interview here: cineuropa.org/en/interview/488960/

Photo: (© 2026 Dario Caruso for Cineuropa - dario-caruso.fr, .photo.dar, Dario Caruso)

Let’s go Nipkow 👏💪🎥🎬

The Berlinale is less than a week away and the good news from the Nipkow fellows keeps coming!
‘Lust’, the sophomore feature by Ralitza Petrova, will have its world premiere in Berlinale’s Forum section. Not only that but it has been acquired by Inwave Films in advance of the festival.
Ralitza developed the film at Nipkow in 2017. It follows a prison parole officer who faces her past through an unlikely journey of control and intimacy after the death of her long-absent father.
Congratulations 👏👏👏

📷 © Aporia Filmworks, Screening Emotions

And more Nipkow fellow news from the Berlinale! “Where To?” was developed by director Assaf Machnes with us in 2021. Then working under a different title, the final film has been selected to screen in the festival’s Perspectives section 👏👏👏

📷 © Maayne Bouhnik

https://www.berlinale.de/en/2026/programme/202604888.html

🥳🥳🥳

And we have more Berlinale news! Mahnaz Mohammadi, whose "Roya" will have its world premiere in the festival's Panorama section, has visited the Nipkow Programm a number of times, including in 2021, where she worked on her screenplay for the film. We are very pleased to see such an important film get such a well deserved platform 👏👏👏

📸 Pak Film

deadline.com/2026/01/totem-iranian-director-mahnaz-mohammadis-clandestine-roya-1236681782/

Go Nipkow fellows go! Taking the Berlinale by storm 👏 Congratulations Viv 👏

More Berlinale news from more Nipkow fellows! This year's Panorama selection features Viv Li's documentary "Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest", which she developed with at the Nipkow Programm in 2021. In the same year, Viv was selected for Berlinale Talents to developed the film at their Lab. Talk about a full circle moment! And the end result? "A Chinese wannabe artist drifts between Berlin’s overwhelming alternative scene and her traditional family in Beijing. With wit and insight, the film follows her search for identity and belonging in a globalised but polarised world." Congratulations!

Image © Viv Li, Corso Fil