JUSTUS PANKAU CAMERA AWARD 2025

On Wednesday evening, July 23, 2025, the Justus Pankau Camera Award was once again presented at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The €3,000 award has been sponsored by the Lions Club Ludwigsburg-Monrepos since 2019 and is presented to a student in their final year at FABW specialising in cinematography.

This year, Sebastian Ganschow was delighted to receive the award for his outstanding visual design in numerous Filmakademie productions. He received the trophy designed by Branko Šmon from Dr. Wolfgang Brunk, membership officer of the Lions Club, and Martin Pfuderer, chairman of the Lions Club's support association. The prize is the most highly endowed award in Germany in the field of cinematography. It commemorates the renowned DoP, long-time Filmakademie lecturer, and Lions Club founding member Justus Pankau, who was always dressed in yellow.

Kay Gauditz, senior lecturer in the Department of Cinematography, has mentored the award winner for several years: „Sebastian Ganschow is a DoP with a wide range of talents. At the beginning of his studies, he was primarily interested in fiction film, advertising, and music videos, showing a great willingness to experiment. Over time, he increasingly discovered the documentary genre for himself and also achieved great skill in this field. With a great deal of curiosity, empathy both in front of and behind the camera, and exceptional technical understanding, he has developed into a ‚complete‘ cinematographer. This means that he is at home in all genres, a reliable ‚partner in crime‘ for every project, and thus a worthy winner - also in the spirit of Justus Pankau. I am very happy for him and this award! The projects presented in his diploma examination reflect his visual potential in the variety of genres: ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (fcition film), PRIMADONNA OR NOTHING (documentary film), and WIE WUNDERSCHÖN (advertising film)."

Justus Pankau (1923-2017)

began teaching at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 1991 and passed on his knowledge to students as a professor specialising in cinematography until 1999. He is thus one of the personalities who have decisively shaped the profile of the film school over many years. As a lecturer, he developed and promoted with great determination the project-oriented teaching concept of “learning by doing” and thus the close networking of theory and practice that still characterises studies at FABW today. As a nonconformist who always sought the truth behind the camera, the “man in yellow” knew how to awaken a sense of quality in young people and supported them in their endeavours to dare the extraordinary.

Justus Pankau's oeuvre includes feature films fort he big screen such as CHRISTIANE F. – WIR KINDER VOM BAHNHOF ZOO and THE LONGING, as well as numerous television productions, including 16 episodes of TATORT, several sketches by comedian Loriot, and episodes of MONTY PYTHON's FLYING CIRCUS.

Justus Pankau was awarded the Adolf Grimme Prize, the German Culture Film Award, and the German Film Award in Gold for MALATESTA.

Lions Club Ludwigsburg-Monrepos

Founded in 1963, the Lions Club Ludwigsburg-Monrepos, with its 43 members, is actively committed to the civic, cultural, social, and general development of society. Last year alone, people in need, social institutions, and activities in the Ludwigsburg district were supported with donations totaling more than €40,000.

Photo (c) FABW

Left to right: Dr. Wolfgang Brunk (membership officer / Lions Club), Sebastian Ganschow (award winner), Martin Pfuderer (chairman of the Lions Club's support association), Roland Mönch (Study coordinator Cinematography / FABW)