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Helena Zengel, born June 10, 2008 in Berlin, appeared in front of the camera for the first time at the age of five in a music video of the Berlin-based alternative band Abby. Following this, she played smaller roles in several TV productions, such as in Kai Wessel's "Spreewaldkrimi - Mörderische Hitze" (2013) and in Lars Becker's "Der gute Bulle" (2016) as well as in a number of student films. She made an appearance in the feature film "Looping" as the daughter of one of the main characters and played her first lead role in "Die Tochter" ("Dark Blue Girl", 2017) as a girl who out of jealousy tries to get in the way of her separated parents' reconciliation.
As a nine-year-old displaying behavioural problems in Nora Fingscheidt's "Systemsprenger" ("System Crasher"), Helena Zengel caused a sensation at the Berlinale 2019 and numerous other festivals. The film won several awards, Zengel was awarded the Creative Energy Award in Emden-Norderney and Best Actress in Santiago. She was also nominated for the European Film Awards and won the German Film Award 2020 for Best Actress.
After this success, she was cast by Paul Greengrass for the western "News of the World" in which she plays alongside Tom Hanks. For her portrayal of a traumatised child that was abducted and grew up with the Kiowa tribe, Zengel received nominations for the Satellite Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as a nomination for the prestigious Golden Globes (Best Actress in a Supporting Role).
In the British romantic comedy "A Christmas Number One" (2021), she played a leading role as the music-loving, terminally ill niece of a thrash metal musician who dreams of creating a big Christmas hit. In the streaming miniseries "Sebastian Fitzek’s Die Therapie", she portrayed the 13-year-old daughter of a psychiatrist whose disappearance sets off a chain of dramatic events.
Zangel also appeared on the big screen in Pia Marais’ mystical adventure film "Transamazonia". Inspired by the story of German-Peruvian biologist Juliane Koepcke, the film follows a teenage girl who survives a plane crash in the Peruvian rainforest and grows up there in isolation. The film premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2024 and was released in German cinemas in May 2025. Around the same time, the US American fantasy film "The Legend of Ochi" was released, telling the story of a girl living on a wondrous island who befriends a small mythical creature.