Martina Priessner (1969) studied Social and Cultural Sciences at Humboldt University in Berlin and works as an independent filmmaker and author in Berlin. Her documentary film debut, “Wir sitzen im Süden (ZDF/Das Kleine Fernsehspiel)”, premiered in 2010 in the national competition at the DOK Film Festival Leipzig and was nominated for the Grimme Prize in 2011. She has received scholarships from Nipkow, DEFA, Istanbul Policy Center-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator, and the Tarabya Cultural Academy. During a five-year stay in Istanbul, she created the found - footage film “Everyday I’m Capuling” in 2013, which focused on the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.
As a 2014/15Mercator-IPC Fellow, she produced the film “650 Wörter (650 Words)” in Istanbul in 2015, which explores migration and language. Her documentary “Die Wächterin (The Guardian)”, developed with support from the BKM, premiered in October 2020 in the German Competition at DOK Leipzig and was awarded the Goethe Institute Documentary Film Prize. Her new film “The Mölln Letters” will celebrate its world premiere at the 75th Berlinale 2025 in the Panorama section. The film addresses the treatment of victims of racist violence and their struggle to foster a new culture of remembrance.
650 Kelime/Wörter/Words
A film by Martina Priessner
The film 650 Words tells the story of eight people from different regions in Turkey—all of whom want nothing more than to be reunited with their loved ones in Germany.
In the film, those interviewed, Ayşe, Ibrahim, Nur, Soner, Hayriye, Halil, Zelal, and Naime, reflect on the language course as a journey they embark upon to join their husbands and wives in Germany.
This documentary was realized through the Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program.
