Final development

Headshots – Anja Niedringhaus, photographer

Synopsis:

For a quarter of a century, award-winning photographer Anja Niedringhaus reported from the frontlines of wars in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Iraq. The worldwide response to her assassination while on assignment in Afghanistan in 2014 was overwhelming.
As the first German female wire photographer for a major news organization, she shaped the public’s perception of modern warfare with a compassionate eye for humanity in the midst of horror. What made Anja’s life and work so extraordinary? What led to her death? We approach these questions on the levels of a criminal investigation, her biography, and contemporary history – lifting the veil on the secrets surrounding her assassination.

Producer: Birgit Schulz
Director:
Sonya Winterberg
Nation: Germany
Estimated length: 90, 52 minutes
Screenplay: Yury Winterberg
Editing: Shaked Goren
Photography: Jürgen Rehberg, N.N.
Production: Bildersturm Filmproduktion GmbH
Budget forecast: 250.000 €
Funding confirmed: 65.000 €
Missing resources: 230.000 €
Objective: CO-PRODUCTION, PRE-SALES, ACQUISITION
Shooting start: January, 2024
Planned end of shooting: July, 2024

Director’s notes:

Anja was a cherished colleague and friend. We both greatly loved Afghanistan and had a common understanding of our times. We shared a circle of friends bound together by the experience of armed conflict and the preciousness of life. Her murder came as a total shock. But despite international media attention, the crime was never really investigated. International politics, intelligence services, and the return of the Taliban all played a part in it. The world must know – we owe that much to Anja.

Production notes:

We have access to a treasure trove of documentary material and personal documents. There have already been very emotional first interviews with friends and colleagues of Anja shortly after her death, which have never been shown. We are fortunate to have the support of Anja’s family and her colleagues from across the globe. Production-wise we are looking for German and international partners, for co-production, sales, and acquisition. Currently in talks with German broadcasters and film funding.

DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY

Sonya Winterberg is an award-winning filmmaker with roots in Finland and Germany. She holds a master’s degree in European Digital Media from the University of Portsmouth/UK. Her work focuses on long-term documentary projects around war, trauma, and children growing up in armed conflicts. Sonya lives in Halifax/Nova Scotia.

PRODUCTION Bildersturm Filmproduktion GmbH | PRODUCER Birgit Schulz | CONTACTS b.schulz@bildersturm-film.de

The Cologne-based “Bildersturm Filmproduktion” has stood for artistic documentaries for 30 years. During this time, 70 internationally award-winning films for theatrical release and broadcasters have been produced. Birgit Schulz’s own documentary “The Lawyers – A German Story” was among the top five German films of 2009 and received two Grimme Awards. In 2018, Birgit received the VFF Production Award at the Munich dok.Fest.

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