Young Actors Award

The Young Actors Award will be presented for the first time in 2024 and honors an outstanding acting performance by an up-and-coming actor. The award thus continues the IFFMH's rich tradition of promoting up-and-coming filmmakers with a forward-looking focus. The award is endowed with 10,000 euros and, with the exception of the Retrospective, is presented across all sections of the festival. From three nominated young actors* who will be shown at the festival, the international jury will honor what it considers to be the most outstanding performance. The prize is sponsored by the Heidelberg-based consultancy cbs.

Pinea Matoshi

Pinea Matoshi was born in Kosovo in 2012 and currently lives in Pristina. Her role as Dua in Blerta Basholli’s film of the same name marks her acting debut. For the teenager, acting offers an opportunity to explore different stories, emotions and perspectives. Indeed, in her role, she impressively traverses a wide spectrum of the human psyche: from grief and melancholy, through light-heartedness and youthful exuberance, to anger. She is vulnerable and wounded, yet also strong and determined, and authentically embodies a young woman of immense resilience who knows how to hold her own despite the harshness and uncertainty of her living conditions – indeed, despite traumatic experiences. – Pinea would like to pursue acting further.

Sim Su-bin

Sim Su-bin is from Seoul, South Korea, where she was born in 2004. She made her acting debut in ›En Route To‹. Since then, she has expanded her acting career to include television and streaming platforms. Most recently, she also played the lead role in ›The Birds‹. However, she has been nominated here for her portrayal of 17-year-old Jin in our competition film ›The World Before‹ by Yoon Dan-bi. The restraint, subtlety and naturalness with which she brings to life for the audience the first stirrings of passion in a young woman – her wavering between curiosity, reserve and, ultimately, resolve – are remarkable. The first intense emotions, which transform Jin’s perception of the world and of herself, cause her to become a different person before our very eyes. A magnificent achievement.

Colas Quignard

Colas Quignard, born in 2002, grew up in Paris. He danced at a high level for ten years. He was offered the role of Toni in our centrepiece, ›La Gradiva‹, after ten auditions. For Toni, a school trip becomes a negative turning point, as disappointments gradually pile up to such an extent that he seems on the verge of breaking under their weight. It is impressive to see how the - during shooting the film - 18-year-old actor manages to portray Toni’s contradictory character and to reveal, beneath his swagger, superficiality and feigned strength, his tenderness, weakness and vulnerability. As the film progresses, we sense an ever-increasing weight bearing down on him, which in his solitude he conceals from the outside world

Noah Sayenko

Noah Sayenko was born in Hamburg in 2003. Inspired by Russian actor Maxim Averin, he dreamed of becoming an actor even as a child. In 2021, he was discovered on the street and played the lead role in Lena Hetzel's short film ›Lebensschulden‹ (›Debts of Life‹) and in Steffen Goldkamp's neo-noir drama ›Regen fiel auf nichts Neues‹ (›Rain Fell on Nothing New‹), for which he is nominated here. This is his first role in a feature film. All the more impressive is his acting performance, which impressed the programme team with its complex combination of sadness and suppressed anger that seems ready to erupt at any moment, strength and physical menace on the one hand, and vulnerability and sensitivity on the other.

Laura Weissmahr

Laura Weissmahr is a multinational actress from Catalonia who has appeared in seven productions to date. These include ›Fanatico‹ by Roger Gual and ›The Offspring‹ by Ventura Durall. She is awarded for her leading role in ›Salve Maria‹. She plays a mother who is unable to develop positive feelings for her baby. The way in which the actress succeeds in translating the film's diverse tonalities between horror, thriller and comedic elements into her performance is remarkable. Her emotional expression changes from scene to scene, sometimes from one moment to the next, and always strikes the right note.