Award
Not a single Grimme Prize goes to private broadcasters
A Grimme Prize trophy. The winners of this year’s Grimme Prize were announced in Marl. photo
© Henning Kaiser/dpa
The Grimme Prize is Germany’s most important award for quality television. RTL, ProSieben & Co. are coming away empty-handed this year. The Grimme Institute chose a streaming provider as the winner.
However, the Grimme Institute in Marl named the streaming provider Disney+ one of the winners in the fiction competition with “Sam – Ein Sachse”. The historical series is about an Afro-German police officer in Saxony at the time of reunification. The WDR production “Nothing that happens to us,” which revolves around an accusation of rape in the university environment, was also honored in this category.
Sarah Bosetti’s show “Bosetti Late Night” (ZDF/3sat) won the entertainment competition. Anna Dushime was honored as host for her conversation in the talk show “The Last Drink with Anna Dushime” (RBB): She spoke to Roberto Blanco in a Berlin hotel bar in the excellent pilot episode.
A Grimme Prize Special went to “Haus Kummerveldt”, a historical dramedy with a small production budget about an emancipated writer in the Empire (WDR/ZDF/Arte).
Transparency and persistence
Katharina Willinger (ARD Studio Istanbul/BR) received the prize for special journalistic achievement. She was honored “for her transparent and continuous foreign reporting from Turkey and Iran.” The jury particularly praised “the fact that she continues to report even when most of the cameras have moved on and the media attention has long since shifted back to other crises.”
In the Information and Culture competition, a Grimme Prize went to Julian Vogel for the documentary series “Einzelarbeiter” (ZDF). The trilogy consists of the films “Munich”, “Halle” and “Hanau”: cities in which right-wing extremist-motivated attacks on people with a visible migration background or a specific religion were carried out in 2016, 2019 and 2020. 21 people died. Julian Vogel accompanied bereaved families.
In the children and youth competition, a Grimme Prize went to “The Show with the Mouse Special – Morocco Mouse” (WDR). In the show, presenter Siham El-Maimouni takes the audience to Morocco. Among other things, she explains the historical background of the recruitment of guest workers for mining in the Ruhr area and the effects on site.
Disney+ received another prize: A Grimme Prize Special in the Children and Youth Competition went to the young actresses Bella Bading, Purnima Grätz and Lilith Johna for their ensemble performance as the three leading actresses in the detective series “The Three!!!”.
The jury decided not to award third prize
In the past, the entertainment competition in particular was often the category in which RTL, ProSieben, Vox and other private companies were able to score points. Shows here were also nominated for the Grimme Prize 2024. The Grimme jury obviously consciously sets a critical tone in its reasoning, which once again emphasizes the gap: “After the commission (for the nominations) has not even used up half of its quota, the jury has decided not to award a third prize. “
The Grimme Prize is awarded in four categories. There are also three special prizes. A total of 17 productions and performances will be honored – 64 were nominated. The award ceremony will take place on April 26th in Marl.
The Grimme Prizes do not involve any money, but are considered highly prestigious. They are intended to honor television programs and performances “that are exemplary and model for program practice,” as it is said. The award has been presented annually since 1964. The prize donor is the German Adult Education Association.