(c) Luca Hoppe
Panel discussion with Horst Herz, Rainer Komers, Filippa Bauer and Pia Hellenthal | moderated by Katharina Schröder
Participation is free of charge. However, cinema tickets must be purchased in advance at the box office.
Since its foundation in 1981, the Filmwerkstatt Münster has been closely associated with authored documentary film. It celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2026. Autor:innendokumentarfilm stands for a personal signature and a clear artistic approach and continues to characterise the workshop’s self-image to this day.
With the Masterschool Documentary Film (1999), developed by Horst Herz and Klaus Wildenhahn with the significant involvement of Winfried Bettmer, this focus was firmly established. Filmmakers such as Rainer Komers shaped this approach and were also closely associated with the Duisburg Film Week. The discussion will look at these connections and the significance of auteur documentaries for film culture in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Filippa Bauer (*1985 in Freiburg) lives and works as an independent filmmaker and audio film author in Cologne. Her graduation film Freiräume, created at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, premiered at the Berlinale in 2015 and received the NRW State Prize for Emerging Artists. In 2019, she was awarded the NRW state grant for the development of artistic documentary and feature films for her project The Statics of Dreams. The film premiered in 2024 at the International Hof Film Festival, was screened across Germany in collaboration with the distributor “Dokomotive Plattform” at thematically relevant venues, and is currently available in the arte media library.
Rainer Komers
Born in 1944 in Guben. Studied film at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as a master student. Realized film projects in Alaska, India, Japan, Yemen, California, Latvia, and Montana.
Most recent award: ARTE Documentary Film Prize for Barstow, California (2018). Most recent retrospective: Zeughauskino Berlin (2025). Most recent publication: Außen Fuji Tag, Alexander Verlag Berlin (2022).
Works as a director, cinematographer, and in word art and poetry. Lives in Berlin and Mülheim an der Ruhr.
Recent Films (Selection)
2025 Yes, We Are Sinti
2022 Miyama, Kyoto Prefecture
2018 Barstow, California
2017 Course Reports
2014 Daugava Delta
2014 Ruhr Record
2009 Milltown, Montana
2007 Ma’rib
2006 Kobe
2004 Nome Road System
2004 NH 2
Horst Herz:
1970s: Photography training, Super 8 experimental films, 35mm advertising films, cinema filmmaker.
From the 1980s: Studied film with Adolf Winkelmann and Claudia von Alemann. Founded Horst-Herz Film Production. Board member of AG-DOK and Filmbüro. Curator of exhibitions and film series.
Member with a studio at the Artist House Dortmund. 50 years member of Verdi. Organizer and leader of documentary film workshops, including Masterschool Documentary Film since 1998.
Co-productions with ZDF, SWR, WDR, NDR, RTL and international partners.
Cinema documentaries include: No Future, Streifzug, Reise nach Südwest, Die Zukunft hat keinen Namen, Auschwitz-Oswiecim, Phoenix-fliegt, Das Meer – die Sehnsucht, Meine Mutter- Heimatlos, Nur Mut – von Psychokrisen + Seelentänzen.
Supported by Filmstiftung, NordMedia, regional film funds, and the Goethe-Institut.
Festivals include Dok Leipzig, Max Ophüls, Rotterdam, Berlin International Film Festival, Oberhausen, Hof, and Duisburg Film Week.
MODERATION: KATHARINA SCHRÖDER is a cultural worker. She studied social, media and film studies in Bochum, Gothenburg, Paris and Amsterdam. After completing her Master’s degree, she worked for various film festivals, including the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, where she was most recently responsible for the International Competition and a member of the selection committee. From 2020 to 2025, she headed the blicke filmfestival des ruhrgebiets as part of a team. In 2023, she was a member of the Westfalen Connection jury at the Münster Film Festival, and since 2026 she has been a member of the selection committee of the Duisburg Film Week. She is currently a consultant on the planning staff at the Stuttgart Moving Image Center (SMIC), where she is responsible for the programme of the future centre. She also works as a moderator and curator.
The event is sponsored by the Kulturamt Münster.
