Maren Ade
Maren Ade (German: [ˈmaːʁən ˈʔaːdə]; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she runs the production company Komplizen Film.
Maren Ade

9EkieraM1 · cropped version of File:Maren_Ade_und_Maria_Schrader.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1976. · Karlsruhe.
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- film director, screenwriter and film producer.
- Education
- University of Television and Film Munich.
- Known for
- Toni Erdmann.
- Honours
- Berliner Kunstpreis, European Film Award for Best Film, European Film Award for Best Director, European Film Award for Best Screenwriter and Herbert Strate Award.
- Languages
- German.
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Documentary summary
Maren Ade (German: [ˈmaːʁən ˈʔaːdə]; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she runs the production company Komplizen Film.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q91508 · wikipedia · Maren Ade
In this article
Early life and education
Early life and education
She is best known for her film Toni Erdmann, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
Maren Ade studied at University of Television and Film Munich. The recorded working language is German. Works named in the authority record are Toni Erdmann. Work by Maren Ade is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Berliner Kunstpreis, European Film Award for Best Film, European Film Award for Best Director and European Film Award for Best Screenwriter.
Ade was born in Karlsruhe, West Germany. As a teenager, she directed her first short films. In 1998, she began studying film production and media management, and later film direction at the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Munich, which she successfully completed in 2004.
Career
Career
In 2001, Ade co-founded the film production company Komplizen Film together with Janine Jackowski, a fellow graduate from HFF. It was with Komplizen Film that she produced her final student film The Forest for the Trees at HFF in 2003. Among other honors, the film received the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. The Forest for the Trees was screened at a large number of international festivals. In 2009, her second film Everyone Else celebrated its world premiere in the Official Competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Silver Bear for Best Film (Jury Grand Prix) and the Best Actress Silver Bear for Birgit Minichmayr. Everyone Else was released in theatres in over 18 countries. In 2012, Ade announced she would be writing and directing a film called Toni Erdmann about a man who begins to play pranks on his adult daughter after he finds she has become too serious. The film debuted In Competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, the first German film to debut there in 10 years. The film won the top prize at the European Film Awards (Best European Film), thus making Ade the first woman to direct a movie that won the top prize at those awards. Ade served on the jury of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, chaired by Pedro Almodóvar. At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, she presided over the festival’s short film competition jury, as well as the jury for the La Cinef lineup of student films.
Personal life
Personal life
Ade lives with director Ulrich Köhler and their two children in Berlin. In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Ade signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.
Accolades
Accolades
2005: Special Jury Award, Sundance Film Festival for The Forest for the Trees 2005: Best Feature Film - Grand Prize, IndieLisboa - International Independent Film Festival for The Forest for the Trees 2005: Best Film, nomination for the German Film Award for The Forest for the Trees 2005: Best Feature Film, Cine Jove Valencia Film Festival for The Forest for the Trees 2005: Best Actress: Eva Löbau, Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival for The Forest for the Trees 2009: Silver Bear – Jury Grand Prix, Berlinale, for Everyone Else 2009: Silver Bear– Best Actress for Birgit Minichmayr, Berlinale, for Everyone Else 2010: Nominated for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Female Lead for Birgit Minichmayr, German Film Award for Everyone Else 2010: Best Direction and FIPRESCI Critics' Award, Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Cinema for Everyone Else 2010: Main Prize, International Women's Film Festival Dortmund for Everyone Else 2010: Best Actor for Lars Eidinger, Love Is Folly International Film Festival for Everyone Else 2010: Best Actress for Birgit Minichmayr, Ourense Film Festival for Everyone Else 2014: Berlin Art Prize in the category Film and Media Art 2015: DEFA Foundation Award for Outstanding Performance in German Film for Komplizen Film 2016: Academy Award nomination, Best Foreign Film, for "Toni Erdmann"

Film director Maren Ade at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Harald Krichel · Harald Krichel / WikiPortraits
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2003
THE FOREST FOR THE TREES by Maren Ade (DVD) (2003) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Short films
2000: Level 9 2001: Vegas
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016), Lola, Toni, Yella und die anderen: Der deutsche Film nach 1990, 2023
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2023
- Toni Erdmann, Faux Pa: Interview with Maren Ade, Film Quarterly, 2017
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2017
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q91508: Maren Ade
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Maren Ade”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Maren Ade. filmportal.de.
- 2.Manohla Dargis (May 22, 2016), The Director of ‘Toni Erdmann' Savors Her Moment at Cannes New York Times.
- 3.Bell, Nicholas. Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #9. Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann.
- 4.Richford, Rhonda. 'Money Monster,' 'The BFG,' 'The Nice Guys' Among Cannes 2016 Lineup. The Hollywood Reporter.
- 5.Tartaglione, Nancy. Toni Erdmann Sweeps European Film Awards – Full Winners List. Deadline. 2016-12-10.
- 6.Rachel Donadio (25 April 2017), Will Smith and Jessica Chastain Join Pedro Almodóvar on Cannes Festival Jury New York Times.
- 7.Scott Roxborough (25 April 2025), Cannes: ‘Toni Erdmann’ Director Maren Ade Heads up Short Film Jury The Hollywood Reporter.
- 8.The Art of the Cringe Factor. @GI_weltweit.
- 9.Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat. Libération. 28 December 2023.
- 10.Newman, Nick. Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza. The Film Stage. 29 December 2023.
- 11.Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire. The Jerusalem Post. 31 December 2023.
- 12.Blaney, Martin. Maren Ade, Maria Schrader films receive key German funding. Screen.
- 13.Vassilis Economou. Diverse perspectives and limitless creativity abound in the Berlinale Panorama. Cineuropa. 16 January 2025.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Take 100, The Future of Film: 100 New Directors, Phaidon Verlag, 2010
- The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2013
- Wagner, Brigitta B. New Paths for German Cinema. Film Quarterly. 62. 4. 69–71. 2009. 10.1525/fq.2009.62.4.69.
- Abel, Marco. The Counter-cinema of the Berlin School. Boydell & Brewer. 249–273. 2013. 978-1-57113-438-7.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016), Lola, Toni, Yella und die anderen: Der deutsche Film nach 1990, 2023Crossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q91508: Maren AdeWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
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