Jury - Öngeren Award

Michael Aue, born in 1951 in Lower Saxony, has been living in Nuremberg since 1981. After several years working in the theater, he has been active since 1985 as a documentary filmmaker and television journalist, with a focus on social issues, contemporary history, culture, and intercultural dialogue.

He has been a founding member of InterForum and has served for many years on various juries at the Film Festival Turkey Germany.

Michael Aue, Director, Nuremberg

Gönül Ayrılmaz, born in Isny in the Allgäu, currently works as a department manager.
Her first contact with the world of film came through her work supporting short film selections as a pre-jury member of the Film Festival Turkey Germany.

With great enthusiasm, she now contributes her experience and passion to this meaningful project.

Gönül Ayrılmaz, Department Manager, Nuremberg

Selim Çelebi is a Nuremberg-based entrepreneur and long-time member of InterForum e.V., with close ties to the Film Festival Turkey Germany.
For many years, he has volunteered on the association’s board and as part of the Öngören Jury.

He is passionate about fostering intercultural understanding and believes deeply in the power of film to connect people.

Selim Çelebi, InterForum Board Member, Nuremberg

Her festival journey began in her youth - as a volunteer, driven by curiosity and enthusiasm. What started as an act of commitment gradually became a profession and, ultimately, her calling.

Born in Germany to Turkish parents, she experienced early on what it means to grow up between two cultures. Rather than having to choose one over the other, she learned to embrace both worlds within her and and to draw strength from that very duality.

The Öngören Jury holds a special place in Sinem's heart, as it stands for values deeply important to her: democracy, human rights, and social dialogue. She firmly believes that culture is a key to bringing people together and making humanity visible.

Sinem İlterli, Festival Curator, Nuremberg

The Turkish Film Days and the encounter with Mahmut Tali Öngören (“A person takes themselves along wherever they go”) marked the beginning of her journey - a journey toward intercultural exchange, therapeutic work, and social engagement.

As a co-founder of InterForum, she has accompanied people and projects for many years, building bridges between cultures and communities.

Her guiding principle remains: “Let us hurry to be human” - an attitude that has been newly reaffirmed for us through Roxana Samadi.

Monika Ott, Practitioner for Psychotherapy & Graduate Social Pedagogue, Nuremberg

Prejudices have the advantage of simplifying one’s worldview: a philosophy of life that consists of not looking at the world. Only the willingness to look opens our eyes to a vast panorama called humanity. One of the best media for this is, without doubt, film – the cinema. Images of people, perspectives, landscapes of life, all this can be found in the works of filmmakers such as Godard, Truffaut, Fassbinder, Angelopoulos, and today also in those of Turkish directors.

Through their films they offer fleeting yet profound glimpses into worlds that seem foreign, unknown, and astonishing, without “leaving the room” (Pascal), or rather, without leaving the darkened movie theatre, says Jochen Schmoldt, who has accompanied and experienced the Turkish German Film Days from almost the very beginning.

Jochen Schmoldt, Publicist, Nuremberg

After studying political science and working at the University of Erlangen, he moved into the field of culture in 1987. After five years as a staff member at KOMM and later as head of department in the city’s cultural centers, he became the personal assistant to the Head of the Department for Education and Culture, Dr. Leipold, and later to the Head of the Department of Culture, Prof. Dr. Lehner. Most recently, he served as the founding director of the KunstKulturQuartier.

He has been closely connected with the Turkey Germany Film Festival for many years and considers the Öngören Award to be an extremely important cultural exclamation mark, especially in these times.

Dr. Matthias Strobel, Founding Director of the KunstKulturQuartier, Nuremberg