As in the previous year queer.de is again media partner of the TEDDY AWARD and awards the prize of the queer readers. In the selection of the jury for the TEDDY Readers’ Award 2020 we attached particular importance to the fact that it is as diverse as our community. The five-member team consists of (top from left) Robert Moussa, Amanda Halbrock, Detlef Stoffel, (bottom from left) Joyce Newrzella and Fabian Schäfer.

It is Robert Moussa‘s first time as a jury member. The Berlin-based filmmaker is the founder and director of Soura Film Fest, the first queer film festival for the Middle East and North Africa. “My great passion for queer cinema can be a good addition to the jury,” the 33-year-old wrote in his application. “I look forward to meeting like-minded people from the film industry and establishing contacts that could also be useful for the Soura Film Fest”.

Amanda Halbrock was on our readers’ jury in 2019 already. “This year I am very excited to see how the Berlinale has changed with the new management,” says the 22-year-old from Berlin. Amanda wants to pay special attention to new queer perspectives and ways of presentation. “I also hope that identities that are almost never seen in films will be represented at the Berlinale this year. As a non-binary trans person, for example, I still hardly ever see people like me on screen, and I hope that this will change soon.”

Detlef Stoffel from Bielefeld, aged 69, is the oldest member of the jury and is making his first appearance. The activist of the first hour and protagonist of the documentary film “Detlef – 60 Jahre schwul” visited the Berlinale as a member of the Student Film Club of the University of Bielefeld in the 1970s. He is very much looking forward to the strenuous days in Berlin: “I am curious about the other jury members, about the developments in non-heterosexual international film, and will, with all due reserve, try to keep an eye on the fact that the ‘gay film’ (whatever that may be) retains an appreciation between all the other variations.”

Joyce Newrzella is also new to the readers-jury. The 26-year-old studied film in Berlin, has already worked on films herself, publishes her own online magazine with a focus on feminist film criticism and is also a co-founder of the queer-feminist video project Various P. “Particularly in view of the tense political climate, it remains interesting to see how the Berlinale is repositioning itself this year with its film selection,” she describes her expectations. “As a freelance filmmaker and queer-feminist member of the jury, I feel a responsibility to examine films for their social relevance on the one hand, but at the same time I remain impartial towards outstanding film talent and creativity and have a special eye for cinematographic skill.”

Fabian Schäfer from Cologne will be a member of the jury again for queer.de. Many readers certainly know the 25-year-old freelance journalist through his in-depth film and book reviews on their website. “At my second Berlinale as a queer.de author on the Teddy Readers’ Jury, I am looking forward to spending a week and a half completely immersed in cinemas, hardly getting any daylight, but instead watching countless films and hopefully experiencing many exciting, courageous, extraordinary new discoveries – and to the difficult decision of which film is the best”.