Biography
Andrea Schramm, born in 1968 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today: Chemnitz) in the former GDR, studied television journalism in Leipzig and directing at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen 'Konrad Wolf' in Potsdam-Babelsberg. In 1994 she began working in Berlin as a writer and director, often together with her former fellow student Jana Matthes as for example, on "Russenkinder" (1997) and "Kopftuch und Minirock" (1998). In 1999, the duo founded the production company Schramm-Matthes-Film. Since then, the two have produced - mostly together - a large number of documentaries and reportages for various TV broadcasters. Their work includes the documentaries "Zwischen den Welten - ein Imam in Deutschland" (2002), "Wo der Osten Urlaub machte - 1000 Betten DDR" (2003) and "Im Schatten der Blutrache" (2007), for which they were awarded the German Television Prize and which earned them a Gerd Ruge scholarship.
Furthermore, the two filmed several reportages for the ZDF program "37° Grad", such as "weiblich, über 50, sucht..." (2007), "Ich liebe nicht nur einen" (2011) and "Der Geschmack von Leben" (2018), about everyday life in a hospice. For the latter, they received the Communication Award of the German Society for Palliative Medicine and the German Palliative Foundation. Parallel to their work as documentary filmmakers, in 2013 Schramm and Matthes were among the four founders of Achtaugen Filmproduktion, which specializes in social spots, training films, and advertising and image films.
In 2018, Matthes and Schramm began work on their documentary feature "Endlich Tacheles", ("The Heart of the Matter") about a young Israeli game designer who processes his grandmother's experiences during the Holocaust in a new game. After its premiere at the digital DOK.fest Munich @home 2020, "Endlich Tacheles" was released in German cinemas in October 2021.