HER INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT CONFRONTS SOCIAL TABOOS, QUESTIONS SOCIAL STRUCTURES, AND SPARKS ONGOING DISCOURSE IN THE MEDIA AND PUBLIC SPHERE. HER GOAL IS TO ADVANCE SOCIAL JUSTICE BY TACKLING INEQUALITIES, DISCRIMINATION, OPPRESSION AND IMPLICIT BIAS THROUGH STORYTELLING.
WINNER OF FIRST STEPS AWARD – BIG AUDIENCE AWARD
CLASHING DIFFERENCES
WINNER OF BEST SCREENPLAY – GERMAN CINEMA NEW TALENT AWARD
CLASHING DIFFERENCES
AT 40TH MUNICH INT. FILM FESTIVAL
WINNER OF THE AUDIENCE AWARD – BEST FEATURE FILM
CLASHING DIFFERENCES
AFRIKA FILM FESTIVAL KÖLN
WINNER OF THE DON-QUIJOTE PREIS – BEST FEATURE FILM
CLASHING DIFFERENCES
QUEER FILM FESTIVAL WEITERSTADT
JURY-AWARD-WINNER OF THE LEGACY STUDY FILM COMPETITION
WINNER OF THE STARTER PREIS
ASSOCIATION CONNECTED DIFFERENCES E.V.
STUDIENSTIFTUNG DES DEUTSCHEN VOLKES
WINNER OF STARTSOCIAL SCHOLARSHIP (WITH CONNECTED DIFFERENCES E.V.)
GERMAN ENAGEMENT PRIZE 2021
NOMINEE
SPEAKER AT THE Z2X PROGRAM – ZEIT ONLINE
YOUNG VISIONARIES
FORMER SCHOLARSHIP HOLDER
STUDIENSTIFTUNG DES DEUTSCHEN VOLKES
FORMER SELECTED STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE OF HFF MUNICH
FORMER SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER AND RESEARCHER
WOMEN'S REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE
HFF MUNICH, 5 YEARS
MERLE GRIMME
Merle Grimme is a Black German screenwriter, director and producer.
She is a graduate of the University of Television and Film (HFF Munich) and previously graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Hildesheim.
As a screenwriter, director and producer, she finished her diploma studies at the HFF Munich with the feature film and the eponymous mini-series 'Clashing Differences'.
Both formats are a co-production between a.little film production, Sperl Film- und Fernsehproduktion and HFF Munich, in collaboration with ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel and ARTE.
The feature film had its shared world premiere at the Int. Filmfest Munich (New German Cinema) and the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco. Clashing Differences was nominated in all categories of the German Cinema New Talent Award (Best Director, Best Production, Best Screenplay, Best Performance). Merle Grimme won the Award for Best Screenplay. With the eponymous mini-series, Merle Grimme won the Big Audience Award of the First Steps Awards 2023.
As a producer, she developed an anti-discriminatory and inclusive production concept especially for this project, which has been tested on various levels and implemented in essential parts. This includes, among other things, the establishment of workshops on critical whiteness, empowerment trainings, discrimination-sensitive counselors on the set and a diverse team as well as cast.
Merle Grimme attended various Writers Labs with industry leaders such as Robin Swicord (Women's Writing Lab; Drama), Taç Romey (Drama Series), Robert Krause and Florian Puchert (Rewrite Lab; Drama). Screenwriter, director and producer Robin Swicord is advising Merle Grimme on one of her upcoming projects.
Merle Grimme's other directorial work includes the documentary 'Regretting Motherhood', which was invited to several national/international film festivals and panel discussions.
Her social spot 'Der deutsche Kinderwunsch?", won the jury prize for the ZEIT Legacy Study, was named ZEIT Online best of 2017, and reached more over 500,000 views online.
Merle Grimme's goal is to promote social justice by addressing inequalities, discrimination, and implicit bias. With her interdisciplinary work and political engagement, she confronts social taboos, questions social structures and initiates current discourses in the media and the public. In 2021, she was awarded the Engagement Prize of the German National Academic Foundation and was also nominated for the German Engagement Prize.