FABW Diploma Film successful in "Children & youth" category
The Grimme Institute in Marl announced the winners of the 61st Grimme Award this Thursday, March 6, 2025. Among the award-winning productions is a diploma film from Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg: in the “Competition Children & Youth”, the seven-member jury chose the documentary SISTERQUEENS, a FABW production for ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel. The award goes to writer and director Clara Stella Hüneke, on behalf of the entire film team. The announcement was made on the same day as the film's theatrical release.
SISTERQUEENS follows three friends, Jamila (9), Rachel (11) and Faseeha (12), over four years in their rap project of the same name in Berlin-Wedding. In their lyrics, the girls deal with social issues such as self-determination, social justice and feminism, defining them in their own way.
From the jury's statement:
"The documentary not only takes the time to shed light on the thoughtful journey of three girls in Berlin, but also to create awareness for a range of social, political and cultural issues in Germany (...).
The central element of this sensitive documentary is the space for expression that is opened up for the girls. Here they experience empowerment through a community of women who accompany and support their development. SISTERQUEENS makes tangible the enormous importance of support services in the field of social (cultural) work. Berlin itself is not only staged as a geographical backdrop, but as a protagonist in its own right, including its diversity and social challenges. And it becomes clear that in times of isolation, as intensified by the pandemic, it is all the more important to create spaces where young people can network with each other, tell their stories and strengthen each other. The film shows how feminist projects not only offer such (virtual and analog) safe spaces, but also initiate movements that can actually bring about change. Above all, SISTERQUEENS (finally) broadens our view of German girls: girls who do not come from a white and privileged upper class; girls who rap for themselves, their friends and the future: “Can't take my opinion, want a non-violent life!”
SISTERQUEENS has already been awarded the Young Eyes Film Award at the 66th edition of DOK Leipzig.
The Grimme Award, one of the most important awards for television productions in Germany, has been presented annually in Marl since 1964. The 61st Grimme Award ceremony, moderated by journalist and presenter Jana Pareigis, will take place on April 4 at the Theater der Stadt Marl and will be broadcast on 3sat with a time delay starting at 10:25 p.m.