Mustafa Khalaf (5,000 euros) and the film team Jasper Rott and Tobias Grimstein (5,000 euros) will receive funding from the Münster Cultural Office in 2025.
THE GOLDEN AHMAD, short fiction film – Mustafa Khalaf
Ahmad, a 33-year-old Jordanian with blond hair and blue eyes, dreams of a life in the West, inspired by Hollywood films that have influenced him since childhood. While he is celebrated online as a charismatic entertainer, in Amman he struggles with financial and social hurdles that make love and freedom seem unattainable. Determined to escape his dreary everyday life, he bets everything on his talents – or the dream of emigration.
LEECH, short feature film – Tobias Grimstein & Jasper Rott
In this coming-of-age drama, a bright young teenager not only questions the gloomy world around her, but also becomes a new ray of hope for humanity after a long time with her cheeky nature.
Both films will be produced and completed in 2025. A presentation of the finished works to an audience is also planned.
The films were selected at a pitching session hosted by Filmwerkstatt Münster for the second time as part of the Litfilms Festival on 27 September 2024 at SpecOps in Münster. Four film teams and filmmakers presented their film projects and applied for financial support from the Münster Department of Culture for the year 2025.
The participants were prepared by a professional pitching seminar with Karin Sarholz from Cologne, which took place at Kreativhaus Münster at the beginning of September. The participants were well prepared for the challenge of presenting their film ideas to a six-person jury in just five minutes.
The projects presented ranged from short feature films to hybrid documentaries:
- Jasper Rott & Tobias Grimstein with their short film LEECH
- Mustafa Khalaf with his short film THE GOLDEN AHMAD
- Can Ünlü with the hybrid documentary film ASIM
- Paula Berger with her film I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS IS FICTION
The jury, consisting of Nina Romming, Lejla Aliev, Christine Kiauk, Claus Herzog-Reichel, Marc Pierschel and Benjamin Leers, assessed the projects according to their originality, artistic quality and feasibility.
With this funding, the Filmwerkstatt Münster and the Münster Cultural Office are sending out a clear signal in favour of artistic film as an independent art form. The aim is to specifically strengthen up-and-coming filmmakers in Münster, offer them a platform and thus secure and further develop the diversity and expressive power of film. This initiative emphasises the importance of artistic film as a cultural asset that not only entertains, but can also initiate social debates and open up new perspectives. At the same time, the filmmakers gain their first experience in concise public relations work, feedback discussions with an expert jury and dealing with public cultural funding through the pitching format and cooperation with the cultural office.
About the event:
The Litfilms Festival pitching session offers filmmakers from Münster and the region a platform to present their projects to an expert audience and receive targeted support. The aim is to promote innovative and exciting film projects in the region and to strengthen artistic film in the long term.
Photo credits
From left to right: Can Ünlü, Mustafa Khalaf, Steffi Köhler (Filmwerkstatt Münster), Jasper Rott, Nina Romming, Tobias Grimstein, Christine Kiauk, Claus Herzog-Reichel, Kristina Scepanski, Marc Pierschel, Benjamin Leers, Lejla Aliev, Daniel Huhn (Filmwerkstatt Münster) – Photo: Thomas Mohn
