Berlin/Potsdam/Los Angeles

Berlin-based director Anna Sofie Hartmann is awarded the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg sponsored Villa Aurora Fellowship, for a three-month stay in 2021 at the artists' residence in Los Angeles.

Born in Denmark, Hartmann studied directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb). Her graduation film "Limbo" premiered in 2014 at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and was invited to numerous festivals worldwide and was nominated for the Discovery Award 2015 of the European Film Academy. Her second film "Giraffe" started its festival career in 2019 at the international film festival in Locarno. Hartmann's latest project, which she would like to develop at the Villa Aurora, she calls "climate fiction"; a drama in the near dystopian future that deals with climate change and its social consequences.

The Medienboard's Managing Director Kirsten Niehuus: "We wish Anna Sofie Hartmann an inspiring time at Villa Aurora, which has stood for freedom and creativity since its foundation. These values are particularly worthy of support in America during this time".

It's already the the tenth time, that the Medienboard is selecting a filmmaker from the capital region for the fellowship. Among former fellows who went to the Villa Aurora for a three-month residency with Medienboard support are Henk Handloegten ("Babylon Berlin"), Annekatrin Hendel ("Schönheit & Vergänglichkeit") and Jan-Ole Gerster ("Lara").

The current artists' residence Villa Aurora is the former exile home of the German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger in Los Angeles. Every year, Villa Aurora awards fellowships for artists in the fields of fine arts, composition, film and literature for a three-month stay at the villa. Since 1995, more than 450 artists have revitalized this historic place and have in turn been inspired by U.S. culture and nature, the exiles’ traces, and the artists who lived and worked at Villa Aurora with them.

To the press release