Jury German Documentary Film Music Award 2025

Atena Eshtiaghi

Musician und Composer

Atena Eshtiaghi is an Iranian composer based in Germany, known for her multifaceted contributions to music. As a multi-instrumentalist, she has made a mark in film music composition and various genres such as experimental electronic and contemporary music. Her career progressed with composing for acclaimed films, including her work on the multi-award-winning documentary film MY STOLEN PLANET which earned her the Deutsche Dokumentarfilm-Musikpreis at DOK.fest München in 2024. In Hamburg, she co-founded the music duo "Duo Azadi" and "Ateneum Music Studio" for her music production. Her versatility extends to directing the "Hastam Festival", featuring Iranian professional artists from across Europe, honored with the Helga Festival Award 2024. Her selection for Berlinale Talents 2025 acknowledges her growth and accomplishments in the music & film industry.

Sebastian Höglinger

Curator, Distribution/Text, Former Director of Diagonale

Sebastian Höglinger, born 1983 in Linz, studied theater, film and media studies and has many years of experience in organizing and implementing cultural events. Curatorial and journalistic activities as well as cultural policy consulting at home and abroad. Employee of sixpackfilm Filmdistribution. From 2009 to 2014, co-director of the YOUKI International Youth Media Festival in Wels as well as work at various film festivals. From 2015 to 2023 Artistic Director and Managing Director of Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film in Graz (together with Peter Schernhuber).

Ann-Kathrin Mittelstraß

Music journalist

Ann-Kathrin Mittelstraß is a moderator and author at Bayerischer Rundfunk. She prefers to talk about music and pop culture and can be heard regularly on Zündfunk and Nachtmix on Bayern 2. From 2015 to 2020, she also hosted the music programme ‘Plattenbau’ on PULS, BR's young wave. She also works for BR24, BR's Inforadio programme, and has hosted various podcasts, including ‘Die Sache ist die...’ - the podcast that tells the socially relevant and pop-cultural stories behind various objects. Ann-Kathrin Mittelstraß studied American Cultural History at the LMU Munich.

Markus Lehmann-Horn

Composer

Markus Lehmann-Horn has been working as a freelance musician and guitarist since 1996. From 2003 to 2007, he studied composition for film and television at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich, and from 2007 to 2011 in the master class in composition with Heinz Winbeck in Würzburg. In addition to symphonic works, his oeuvre includes a full-length opera, instrumental concertos and various works with a wide range of instrumentation. He is constantly inspired by current events to create new works. In 2020, for example, the highly political ‘dark German’ Singspiel ‘Hotel Giesing’ in afD minor with Cornel Franz as author and director had its premiere at the Munich Reithalle/UTOPIA. Lehmann-Horn has received various awards, including the Paul Hindemith Prize 2011, the Gerhard Schedl Musiktheaterpreis der Neuen Oper Wien 2012 and he is a prizewinner of the Brandenburger Biennale 2016. Since 2017, he has been the artistic director of the Munich aDevantgarde Festival for contemporary music. As a crossover artist between classical serious music and the technical-electronic music world, he has written over 50 film music compositions for national and international film productions with a focus on documentaries.

Benedikt Schulte

Filmmaker

Benedikt Schulte studied scenic arts in Hildesheim and Bologna and is co-founder of Lichtbilder Filmproduktion in Munich. His first documentary film DIE SEELE DER GEIGE (52 min., BR/ARTE) was nominated for the FFF-Förderpreis at DOK.fest München in 2018 and won the audience award at Musikfilmtage Oberaudorf. His latest documentary film SIMON! VOM GLÜCK DES DIRIGIERENS (52 min., BR/ARTE) will premiere at DOK.fest in 2025. He has also been live recording concerts for ARTE, WDR and BR since 2022.