Sturm remains president: successful election at the Babelsberg Film University

Sturm remains president: successful election at the Babelsberg Film University

Today, on May 5, 2025, KONRAD WOLF was once again elected as president in an election at the Babelsberg Film University. Prof. Dr. Susanne Striker secured a majority in the first round of voting and will therefore begin her third term in office on October 1, 2025. This re-election by the University Senate sends a strong signal of confidence in her leadership and vision for the institution.

In her first official statement, Sturmer announced that she would focus on the importance of the discussion about university direction. She expressed gratitude for the trust shown and spoke about her goals, which she presented in detail at an event on April 28, 2025.

Focus on artistic profiling

A central concern of Stürmer is to sharpen the film university's profile as Germany's first and only film university. Part of their strategy aims to improve the framework conditions for film work and teaching. She would also like to intensify collaboration between the different study programs and further optimize the Bachelor-Master construct.

“We have to promote the acceptance and importance of artistic research in Germany,” she is quoted as saying. Stuermer's commitment is also reflected in her efforts to expand the university's external partnerships and strengthen exchanges with industry.

Experiences and successes

Sturmer has been President of the Babelsberg Film University since October 1, 2013. Previously, she worked as a professor for “New Media Production” from 2011 to 2013 and gained extensive experience at UFA GmbH, where she held senior positions from 1998 to 2013. Her career in the media industry includes, among other things, the role of managing director from 2006.

How tagesspiegel.de reports, Sturmer has achieved significant success at the university in recent years. Her work influenced the change of status to the university, which took place at the start of her first term in July 2014. She is also actively involved in various committees, including the supervisory board of media.net Berlin-Brandenburg and the Erich Pommer Institute. She is also known to audiences through her role as representative of the state of Brandenburg on the ZDF television council from 2016 to 2020.

The next step for Sturmer includes not only continuing her recent initiatives, but also further developing research in the arts and supporting academic career paths. Furthermore, she plans to further consolidate the university's status as an artistic educational institution and to set significant accents in higher education.

In her efforts to shape the film university into a platform for innovative cinematic creation and teaching, Stürmer will continue to build on the successes of recent years and proactively address challenges. Your upcoming tasks become loud filmuniversitaet.de include the promotion of artistic research and the optimization of internal framework conditions.