Sabine Rollberg
Sabine Rollberg (born August 9, 1953 in Freiburg im Breisgau) is a German Professor of Artistic Television Formats, Film and Television, as well a former commissioner and head of the editorial department of Arte at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). She developed and oversaw an array of diverse TV programmes and has also become internationally known as a dedicated editor and promoter of documentary film. From September 2008 to April 2019 she taught at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln). In 2014, the Grimme Award laureate was appointed to the advisory board of the  University of Freiburg (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) and University College Freiburg. Life and studies. Sabine Rollberg grew up in an artistic family in Freiburg, the daughter of the actor Will Rollberg (born May 12, 1916 in Halle (Saale), Germany, died August 28, 2009 in Freiburg) and the solo dancer Gyp Schlicht Rollberg, née Gerda Ursula Elisabeth Schlicht (born December 2, 1917 in Chemnitz, died November 22, 2015 in Freiburg). Even as a small child she was treading the boards: from 1959 to 1969, she performed as a child actor in all Christmas fairy tales (Weihnachtsmärchen) staged at Theater Freiburg; subsequently , she took on bigger parts at the Wallgraben-Theater. At school, she also had speaking parts in schools' broadcasts and audio plays for the Südwestfunk at their Freiburg studio. She also worked freelance for Badische Zeitung. After her Abitur (general qualification for university entrance) at the Berthold Gymnasium Freiburg, she studied German, History and Politics at the University of Freiburg (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) (1973–1974 and 1976–1980) and at the University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) (1974–1976). In 1980, she gained her PhD with a dissertation titled ″Von der Wiederauferstehung des deutschen Geistes. Eine Analyse des Feuilletons der  Neuen Zeitung 1945–1949 (On the Resurrection of the German Intellect. An Analysis of the Arts Section of the Neue Zeitung 1935–1949″. From 1980 to 1982, she did an internship at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). Rollberg has one daughter and lives in Freiburg. Television editor. Since 1982, Rollberger has been working as an editor for various programme sections within WDR Television. Until 1984, she was in charge of "Weltspiegel " within the programme section Foreign Affairs, as well as of "ARD-Brennpunkt", of the concept and editing of " Kulturweltspiegel" and "Kinderweltspiegel"; she also presented the foreign affairs programme "Treffpunkt Dritte Welt". As the  editor of the programme sections Culture and Science, she was responsible for "Kulturweltspiegel" and "Pacz & Co", for up-to-date arts coverage and major live revue programmes such as "Mai-Revue", "Alle Jahre wieder", "Vatertagsrevue", "Silvesterrevue". Furthermore, she presented the talk show "Leute" of the Sender Freies Berlin (SFB), broadcast live from Berlin's Cafe Kranzler. From 1989 to 1994, she was foreign correspondent for the ARD at their Paris studio. In 2001, her leadership bid for the Deutsche Welle was unsuccessful. She lost the election for the post of Director General to the SPD politician Erik Bettermann with 7  to 10 votes. As a pioneer of quality television, she has continuously sustained her commitment to maintaining and distributing significant formats and products in TV and film. Arte expert. When, on April 30, 1991, the Franco-German television channel Arte was established, Sabine Rollberg followed the programming policies of this new binational channel focusing on the arts and Europe with keen interest. From 1994 to 1997, she was the editor-in-chief of Arte at the channel's Strasbourg headquarters. Amongst others, the new live news programme "7 1/2" was established under her leadership. Thereby, she clearly emphasised the significance  of pluralism and opinion forming in a common Europe: „We are more than just an arts channel. The second string to our bow, and our other major concern, is Europe. (…) In this day and age, our home is Europe. Unfortunately, our programme is not in line with current trends, as all countries are showing a propensity towards national egotism. International issues, regrettably, find less favour, but we are deliberately swimming against the current, since Europe is close to our hearts.“ In 1999 (after two years of maternity leave in Moscow), she returned to Cologne as the WDR's Arte Commissioner  and Managing Editor of Arte/3Sat in the WDR. From October 2005 to the end of 2009, she managed the department of the programme section Arts Channels (Programmgruppe Kulturkanäle) in the WDR and helped set up the satellite TV channel "Einsfestival". She has been editor-in-chief of WDR/ARTE from 2008 to 2018. Professorial appointment. In order to pass on her comprehensive knowledge and (traditional) values regarding quality in public broadcasting to the next generation, she accepted a professorship at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln) teaching from September 2008 to April 2019. Her lectures as  a guest professor include “The Future of Documentary Film in a Changing Media Landscape” („Die Zukunft des Dokumentarfilms in einer sich wandelnden Medienlandschaft“), given as part of the lecture series “Social Innovation” („Gesellschaftliche Innovation“) at the Munich University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften München) in 2015. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Freiburg, and since 2009, a specialist advisor for Eurodoc. Sabine Rollberg is particularly concerned with maintaining and promoting documentary feature film as an integral part of public television programming. Undeterred by the ever-increasing quota pressures on  television networks and the general commercialisation of TV programmes, she supports idiosyncratic and non-conformist documentary film projects, always focused on hard-hitting topics and their social and cultural significance. Rollberg has consistently advocated “creative freedom in format television“. At major documentary film festivals, she passionately stresses the importance of the documentary film genre, and she was awarded the "Dickes Fell" (Thick Skin) Award of the Consortium for Documentary Film (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm) in autumn 2009. Awards. Many films promoted by Sabine Rollberg have received national and international awards, including the German Film Award (Deutscher Filmpreis) LOLA (formerly Federal Film Award  (Bundesfilmpreis)), the Grimme Preis, the European Film Awards (Europäischer Filmpreis), the Prix Italia, the Golden Gate Award (San Francisco), several Human Rights Awards ("Lost Children" 2005, "" (Jagd nach Gerechtigkeit) 2007 and "The Green Wave/Iran Elections" 2009) and the Journalist Award (Journalistenpreis) for "Half Moon Over Cologne" (Halbmond über Köln) 2012. Some award-winning films (selection):