Leonie Benesch receives Hannelore-Eelsner Prize at the five-lake festival!

Leonie Benesch receives Hannelore-Eelsner Prize at the five-lake festival!

Starnberg, Deutschland - An exciting event is imminent: On September 12, 2025, the talented actress Leonie Benesch will be honored with the Hannelore-Eelsner Prize as part of the renowned five-sea film festival (FSFF). This award, which is endowed with 5,000 euros, recognizes outstanding achievements of German -speaking actresses and has been awarded since 2019 to honor the memory of the late actress Hannelore Elsner. As the Süddeutsche Zeitung , the award ceremony will take place in the Schlossberghalle of Starnberg.

Benesch, born in 1991, is the seventh award winner of the Hannelore-Eelsner Prize after greats such as Barbara Auer, Nina Hoss and Paula Beer were previously honored. Festival manager Matthias Helwig has long pursued her career and highlights the remarkable achievements of the young actress. Benesch, who became known with films such as "The Teacher Room", where it was nominated for the Oscar, can look back on numerous awards, including the German Schauspiel Prize.

The festival program

The 19th five-sea film festival will take place from September 9th to 16th, 2025 in the idyllic places Starnberg, Gauting, Seefeld and Weßling. Film-enthusiastic viewers can look forward to an open-air cinema in the Starnberg seaside resort in advance, which will take place from August 2 to 17, followed by a special steamer trip on Lake Starnberg on August 20. The festival is known for being a shop window for the best films from the German and international film world and is considered one of the largest of its kind in Germany.

The film "Heldin" is shown during the award ceremony, and the festival will also dedicate Benesch to a homage in which the films "The White Band", "September 5" and "The Teacher Room" are presented. Leonie Benesch has already won several prizes in her career, including the German Film Award as the best supporting actress for "September 5", which deals with the 1972 Olympic attack. They made their versatility and the sense of complex roles one of the most exciting actresses of their generation.

A look at Paula Beer

But the awards not only go to Benesch: Paula Beer, who received the Hannelore-Elsner Prize on August 29, 2023, will also be the focus of the festival. Beer, known from the film "Red Heaven", was the youngest award winner and noticed how important the recognition of Hannelore Elsner and her colleagues is for the drama scene. As can be read on Exclusive Munich, Beer is praised for their film roles and their art, whose radiation is high in the audience is.