The juries of Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V., comprised of experts in literature, film, visual arts, and music,  have selected the recipients of the 2019  residency grants for Villa Aurora in Los Angeles.

Fatma Aydemir, Maren Kames and Philipp Schönthaler were selected for fellowships in literature. The jury included Florian Höllerer (Literary Colloquium Berlin), Dr. Christiane Lange (House of Poetry), Ijoma Mangold (Die Zeit), and Dr. med. Stefanie Stegman (Literaturhaus Stuttgart).

The film fellowships were awarded to Angelika Levi, Wolfgang Fischer together with Ika Künzel ,and Uisenma Borchu together with Sven Zellner. In addition, the jury selcted Jakob Lass for the 2019 Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Fellowship. Medienboard CEO Kirsten Niehuus: "The Villa Aurora is a wonderful place to create ideas far away from the big cities, but close enough to enjoy the benefits of this extraordinary twon. We wish Jakob Lass an inspiring stay!"

The film jury consisted of Burkhard Althoff (The Little TV Game, ZDF), Veronika Grob (Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg), Ekkehard Knörer (Cargo, Merkur) and Mariette Rissenbeek (German Films).

Leo Hofmann, Ole Hübner and Georg Klein were for the music fellowships. The music jury was made up by Andreas Engström (Nutida music, Kontraklang), Dr. Ing. Lydia Rilling (Philharmonic Luxembourg, rainy days - Festival for New Music), Raoul Mörchen (Mosaic, WDR), Rainer Pöllmann (Germany Radio Culture, Ultrasound Berlin - Festival for New Music), and Dr. Michael Rebhahn (SWR2).

The fellowships for visual arts were awarded to Louisa Clement and Christoph Keller, as well as Vajiko Chachkhiani and Lukas Glinkowski, whose scholarships are funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe. Klaus Lederer , Berlin’s Senator for Culture, welcomes the excellent cooperation with Villa Aurora and wishes the artists a productive time in L.A.

The visual arts jury was comprised of Jens Asthoff (author and freelance critic, for "Artforum" and "Kunstforum", among others), Prof. Dr. med. Stephan Berg (Kunstmuseum Bonn), Prof. Dr. Anne-Marie Bonnet (Art History Institute of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), Dr. med. Anette Hüsch (Kunsthalle zu Kiel) and Dr. Gabriele Knapstein (Hamburger Bahnhof).

An additional fellowship funded by Musicboard Berlin was awarded to Berlin musician and "yodel expert" Kutzkelina aka Doreen Kutzke. She was selected by the Musicboard in May. of the Music Board. Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. will announce the recipients of additional awards throughout the year.

Villa Aurora, the former exile home of the German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger in Los Angeles, today serves as an artists residence. Every year, Villa Aurora grants scholarships for artists in the fields of visual arts, music, film and literature for a three-month stay at the Villa. The scholarship in Los Angeles enables artists to work on a specific project. Since its inception as an artists residence, Villa Aurora has enabled more than 350 artists to realize projects in Los Angeles.

The application deadline for 2020 fellowships  is April 30, 2019. Further information on the application process and the conditions as well as the application forms are available on www.vatmh.org/de/stipendien.html.

The residency program at Villa Aurora is funded by the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.