Language:German90 min

In cooperation with Verein für sexuelle Emanzipaion e.V.

The need to deal with diversity has reached public broadcasters as well as streaming services and production companies. There are more and more films and series that try to produce diverse stories with queer characters - sometimes more, sometimes less successfully. One challenge is to create authentic and three-dimensional characters without using reductive stereotypes or reproducing clumsy narratives. To counteract this mechanism, there is the strategy of casting queer roles specifically with queer actors. This approach is becoming more and more popular and is also supported by major studios such as Amazon, but at the same time it causes heated discussions in public debates.In this panel we would like to talk to directors, actors and casting directors about what this debate means for their work and how they approach queer roles and queer stories. It is certain that structural changes are needed to bring about authentic representation and real participation in the film industry, and for this to happen, the cooperation of all departments is essential.

In conversation with:

Kai S. Pieck - Director

Pieck is an award-winning director and writer for film/TV/streaming, event and stage. In 2018, he initiated the Queer Media Society, an initiative of queer media professionals to make queer content and people visible and represented in the media.

Sabine Weimann - Casting Agent

Graduated from high school in Hamburg. Grew up in Cologne and Aachen. Studied at the FU Berlin. Sabine Weimann looks back on 30 years of professional experience in casting for film and television. During this time she initiated two new casting departments for UFA, including team building and management. Projects she has worked on include the ARD series ALL YOU NEED and the 2015 film MEIN SOHN HELEN.

Eva Meckbach - Actress

She was part of the ensemble of the renowned Berlin Schaubühne for many years and can regularly be seen in leading roles in film and television, currently in the ZDFneo series DECISION GAME. As a narrator, she received the German Audiobook Award in 2019. Meckbach is one of the initiators of #ActOut.

Moderation: Aileen Pinkert - Media Scholar and Press Relations Officer

She discovered her love of film and cinema during her media studies. Through her work at the Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, she can rightfully claim that queer films are at the centre of her life.