Winners

Soleen
Yusef

Born in Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 1987, she fled with her family to Berlin when she was a child. Whilst training in fashion, singing and acting, she worked as an assistant in production, directing and distribution at mîtosfilm. In 2008, she began studying fiction directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her third-year film Trattoria premiered at the 2012 Berlinale. Since making her debut feature film Haus ohne Dach (2016), for which she won awards including the First Steps Award, she has been working on international productions for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+.

Filmography
2012 Trattoria 2014 Der NSU-Prozess – Das Protokoll des ersten Jahres; documentary 2015 Der NSU-Prozess – Das Protokoll des zweiten Jahres; documentary 2016 Haus ohne Dach (House Without Roof) 2017 SOKO Leipzig (Leipzig Homicide); episodes 366–367 2018 Meiberger – Im Kopf des Täters (Meiberger: Chasing Minds); episodes 5–8 2019 Skylines; episodes 4–6 2020 Deutschland 89; episodes 1–8 2023 Sam – Ein Sachse (Sam – A Saxon); episodes 1–4 · Sieger sein (Winners)

Starting over isn’t easy – especially for teenage Mona, a Kurdish refugee from Syria now living in Germany. Her new school is filled with students from diverse backgrounds, creating chaos and tension. One thing unites them: the school football team. Teacher Chepovski recognizes Mona’s talent and brings her onto the team. She doesn’t speak German yet, but she speaks football. Still, fitting in isn’t easy.