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. She is best known for her film Toni Erdmann, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
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Early life and education
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
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
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.
Filmography
Short films
2000: Level 9
2001: Vegas
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