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Bernd Sahling, born in Naumburg in 1961, completed an internship at the DEFA feature film studio in Babelsberg in 1983. He then worked as an assistant director for Hannelore Unterberg, Helmut Dziuba, Rolf Losansky, and others. In 1986, he began studying at the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Babelsberg, graduating in 1991. Bernd Sahling then worked as a writer and director until he received scholarships to Columbia University in Chicago and Northwestern University.
After TV documentaries such as "Die Rechte der Kinder – Ruhestörung" ("The Rights of Children – Disturbing the Peace", 1997) and “Gymnasium – wir werden sehen” ("High School – We'll See", 1999) about visually impaired children, he made his highly acclaimed feature film debut in 2004 with “Die Blindgänger” ("The Blind Guys"). For this, he received the German Film Award in 2004.
For his next project, Sahling returned to the theme of childhood and school: the short documentary "Edna's Day" (2009) follows a young refugee girl from Bosnia through her everyday life at her new school in Germany.
Sahling's second feature film also dealt with the problems of a schoolboy: "Kopfüber" (2013) focuses on a ten-year-old boy who suffers from ADHD and is sedated with medication. The film was screened at the Berlinale, among other places, and was nominated for the German Film Critics' Award for Best Children's Film.
In 2016, Sahling collaborated with the documentary class of the Duisburg festival "doxs! Documentary Films for Children and Young People" to produce the medium-length film "In ihrer Welt" ("In Their World"), about four visually impaired people who recall their difficult school days as integration students. In 2019, he made the documentary "Filmland Thüringen – Von der DEFA bis zum Kinderfilm" ("Film Country Thuringia – From DEFA to Children's Films") for MDR.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sahling produced two intimate short documentaries: "Corona Ferien" (2020), which captures the everyday life of a seven-year-old boy, and "Inmitten" (2021), a "visual diary" depicting his own experiences alongside the Berlin dance ensemble cie. toula limnaios.
In 2023, Sahling shot the feature film "Ab morgen bin ich mutig" ("From Tomorrow I'll Be Brave"), about a twelve-year-old boy who is secretly in love with a classmate. The premiere took place in the summer of 2025 at the Erfurt Children's Media Festival Goldener Spatz; the theatrical release followed in the fall of the same year.
In addition to his work as a freelance author and director, he is a member of numerous festival juries and a guest lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Since 1999, he has been giving workshops on children's films in Singapore, the USA, Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovakia, France, Russia, and Tajikistan.