Biography
Sarah Winkenstette, born on 2 January 1980 in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, gained her first experiences in the editorial field through internships and hospitations. From the end of 2000 to the end of 2003, she was a trainee and editor at Medienfabrik Bertelsmann; at the same time, she began a traineeship at the RTL School of Journalism in January 2003, which she completed at the end of 2005. Afterwards she began working as an author and producer for various broadcasting companies (including ZDF tivi, WDR Kinder und Familie).
From 2007 to 2011 Winkenstette studied film at the Cologne Academy of Media Arts (KHM). During her studies she directed, among other things, the special episode "Terror" of the German popular daily soap "Lindenstraße" which was largely realised by film students (broadcast: 3.1.2009). Her 20-minute graduation film "Gekidnapped" ("Kidnapped", 2011) won prizes at several festivals. At the International Film Festival Giffoni (Italy) she won the Best Short Film Award, at the European Film Festival in Lille (France) the Audience Award and at the International Student Film Festival Sehsüchte in Potsdam the Best Children's Film Award; furthermore "Gekidnapped" was nominated for the Studio Hamburg Young Talent Award. After her graduation, Winkenstette worked mainly for television. For the episode "Kann es Johannes? BMX" (2013, WDR) from the series "Kann es Johannes?" she won an award in the category 'Entertainment' at the Kinder Medien Festival Goldener Spatz. She also directed some episodes of the ZDF show "Let's talk. Weil Meinung zählt!"
Sarah Winkenstette made her feature film debut with the children's and youth film "Zu weit weg" ("Too Far Away", 2019), about a 12-year-old outsider who makes friends with a Syrian refugee boy. Also this film won several international festival prizes. At the International Film Festival for Children and Young Audience "Rascals" he received the Goethe Institute's Children's and Youth Film Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize; at the International Film Festival for Children and Youth in New Delhi (India) the ECFA Award for Best Feature Film; and at the Molodist Film Festival in Kiev (Ukraine) the Teen Screen Award. The German cinema release of "Zu weit weg" took place in March 2020.