The Golden Key will award an outstanding documentary work of a young director. The City of Kassel supports the prize for the 22nd time. The Golden Key is awarded in two categories: for the best documentary short film, up to 66 minutes, and the best documentary feature film, of more than 66 minutes. Each prize is endowed with €2,500. Nominated are works whose directors were not older than 35 years by the time the work was completed. In justified cases the selection committees of the festival decide about exceptions regarding this regulation. The selection committees have selected 26 works out of the festival program to be nominated for the Golden Key. Including films from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Cuba, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Netherlands, Finland, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Congo, Lebanon, Canada, Spain, Poland and Ireland.
Since 2017 the Golden Key is listed as an officially accepted competition of the German National Film Board (FFA). Films produced in Germany with a running time up to 30 minutes are able to collect 5 Points for reference film funding with a nomination.
Jury 2024
Susanne Jakubczyk is an art historian, art mediator, playing arts and theatre educationalist. She has been Director of Studies at the Evangelisches Forum Kassel since 2004 with the thematic focus on art, literature, film and urban planning. Since 2016, she has been a member of the board of the Association for Contemporary Art and Church Artheon (Gesellschaft für Gegenwartskunst und Kirche – Artheon e. V.).
Franzis Kabisch is a filmmaker, artistic researcher, and writer, based in Berlin and Vienna. Her artistic and scientific research is focused on the depictions of abortion in film and television, queer desire and reproductive justice. For her short film “getty abortions” (2023), she has received numerous awards, among them the Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig and the Golden Key at Kassel Dokfest.
Thorsten Schaumann has been Artistic Director of the Hof International Film Festival since 2017. He is also a member of the Goethe Institute's Film, Television and Radio Advisory Board, the Hessen Film Events & Series Jury and the board of the AG Filmfestival. In addition, Thorsten Schaumann teaches at the HFF as well as Filmwerkstatt in Munich and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, among others.
Dr. Holger Schwetter is a music and media scientist and cultural manager. He has taught and conducted research at Leuphana University Lüneburg, TU Dresden and the University of Kassel, among others. He is a co-founder of the alternative collecting society C3S and worked as a consultant in the cultural department of the city of Osnabrück. Since January 2024, he heads the Department of Cultural Promotion and Consulting at the Cultural Office of the City of Kassel.
Saskia Trebing, born in Bad Hersfeld in 1987, is an art historian and journalist and lives in Berlin. She is an editor at the art magazine Monopol and, as a former editor of the newspaper HNA in Kassel, provided intensive journalistic coverage for the documenta editions 13, 14 and fifteen.
Award Winners
2023 Feature Film: Asmae El Moudir: The Mother of All Lies
2023 Short Film: Franzis Kabisch: getty abortions
2022 Feature Film: Marusya Syroechkovskaya: How to Save a Dead Friend
2022 Short Film: Evgenia Arbugaeva, Maxim Arbugaev: Haulout
2021 Feature Film: Stefan Pavlovic: Looking for Horses
2021 Short Film: Guang Liu: 当海里长出森林 (When the Sea Sends Forth a Forest)
2020 Feature Film: Radu Ciorniciuc: Acasa – My Home
2020 Shortfilm: Francesca Bertin: L`Artificio
2019 Feature Film: Jialing Zhang und Nanfu Wang: One Child Nation
2019 Shortfilm: Markus Fiedler, Nanna Katrine Hansen, Thomas Elsted and Stanley Edwards: Cast Away Souls
2018 Feature Film: Jasmin Preiß: Sweet Meadow
2018 Shortfilm: Agnes Lisa Wegner: No Fucking Ice Cream
2017 Ziad Kalthoum: Taste of Cement
2016 Ognjen Glavonic: Dubina Dva
2015 Mea de Jong: If Mama Ain't Happy, Nobody's Happy
2014 Leslie Tai: The Private Life of Fenfen
2013 Gabriel Serra: La parka
2012 Antoine Bourges: East Hastings Pharmacy
2011 Carmen Losmann: Work Hard - Play Hard
2010 Viera Cákanyová: Alda
2009 Thomas A. Østbye: Human
2008 Mario Hirasaka: Die Ryozanpaku
2007 Jess Feast: Cowboys & Communists
2006 Sarah Vanagt: Begin Began Begun
2005 Susanne Jaeger: Vater und Feind
2004 Alexandra Gulea: Die Daumendreher (GOD PLAYS SAX; THE DEVIL VIOLIN)
2003 Sandra Jakisch: 08/15 – Leben am Rand von Köln
2002 Klaus Stern: Andreas Baader- Der Staatsfeind