Henner Winckler joins Merz Akademie as Professor for Film and Video, starting in the summer semester 2026. The renowned filmmaker has received multiple awards for his feature films, including the DEFA Sponsorship Award and the German Film Critics’ Award for Best Screenplay. In his teaching, he aims to provide students with a solid understanding of film aesthetics while support them in developing their own distinctive cinematic voice.
Winckler studied film at the HfG Offenbach and the HfBK Hamburg. He has taught at various film schools, including the DFFB, Film University Babelsberg, and MetFilm School Berlin. Before directing his own feature films, he worked as a camera assistant, screenwriter, and script consultant, and made several short films.
His feature-length films Klassenfahrt and Lucy were screened at festivals such as the Berlinale, the London Film Festival, and Karlovy Vary, where they received multiple awards. Together with Ulrich Köhler, he co-wrote and co-directed Das freiwillige Jahr, which was shown in the international competition at the Locarno Film Festival and also received the German Film Critics’ Award for Best Screenplay.
Students should develop their own perspective on their material, both in aesthetic-artistic and societal terms. Since filmmaking is always embedded in broader social discourses, discussions around these will be an integral part of my teaching,
says Henner Winckler about his upcoming role as Professor of Film and Video.
It is important to him to engage with all cinematic forms and approaches that students choose for their artistic practice. “Artificial intelligence will transform every aspect of film development. This process will intensify in the coming years and affect all areas — from screenwriting and working with actors to post-production and distribution. As a film professor at Merz Akademie, I want to encourage students not only to respond to these developments, but to actively help shape them, while maintaining their own values and artistic freedom. What is art? What defines authorship? It will be crucial to explore these questions, to approach them creatively, and to develop clear positions.
Dr. Barbara M. Eggert, President of Merz Akademie welcomes Henner Winckler’s appointment
We are delighted to welcome him to the Merz Akademie community. As President, it is a key concern of mine that the professorships in the field of Film and Video both support and challenge students equally across experimental, documentary, and fictional formats. With his artistic practice, Professor Winckler ideally complements the profile of Professor Maria Mohr.
At the same time, he brings many years of diverse expertise in cinematography to his teaching — opening up additional professional perspectives for students, which he conveys in a reflective and practice-oriented manner.
Maria Mohr, Dean and Professor of Film and Video at Merz Akademie adds:
As Dean, as representative of the Film and Video department, and as a colleague, I see Henner Winckler’s appointment as a perfect addition to the Merz Akademie team. In a time of polarisation and challenges to democracy, this appointment highlights artistic authorship, engagement with society, and an exploration of the possibilities of cinematic language. We share this foundation, and within the broad field between fictional, documentary, and experimental forms of expression, we complement each other in a highly productive way. I very much look forward to our future collaboration.
