Trümmermädchen – Germany Year Zero

Laura Balzer as Lotte Schumann

Laura Balzer was born in Braunschweig in 1993. She studied Fine Arts at the HBK Braunschweig from 2012 to 2015 and acting at the “Ernst Busch” Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin from 2015 to 2019. Already during her studies (2017) she played a part in the studio production “The Good Person of Szechwan” at the Berlin Schaubühne. Since 2019 she has been part of the Berliner Ensemble and has appeared in productions such as “The Threepenny Opera” by Barrie Kosky, as well as in “Glaube und Heimat” by Michael Thalheimer.

In 2019 she played in her first feature film “Trümmermädchen – Germany Year Zero” directed by Oliver Kracht. Here she embodies the title character, a performance for which she was nominated for the Götz-George-Young Talent Prize at the First Steps Awards in 2021. The jury’s statement on the nomination reads as follows:

“Trümmermädchen – Germany Year Zero’ offers a melodramatic, epochal insight into an emancipation story. In the middle of it all a stunning Laura Balzer, who draws on her enormous range of acting skills and increasingly strips the stuttering Charlotte of all role models. She takes us on a virtuoso journey of a character seared by trauma and oppression and carries the entire film with the tailwind of the female ensemble.”

Valery Tscheplanowa als Gloria Deven

Valery Tscheplanowa was born in 1980 as Veronika Walerjewna Tscheplanowa in Kazan, where she spent most of her early years growing up. She began her training as a dancer at the Palucca School in Dresden at the age of 17. In 1999 she began studying puppetry at the “Ernst Busch” Academy in Berlin, where she switched to acting after three semesters. After graduating in 2005, she was a permanent ensemble member of the German Theater Berlin until 2009, then joined the Schauspiel Frankfurt and in 2013 the Residenztheater Munich. She has been a free lance actor since 2017.

After many years in the theatre, she has also been more frequently in front of the camera since 2007. In 2008, she appeared in a cinema production for the first time in “Speed Racer” by the Wachowskis. She also performs as a singer and takes part in radio play productions. In May 2018, Valery Tscheplanowa was elected as a new member of the Performing Arts Section of the Berlin Academy of Arts.

Lena Urzendowsky as Evi

Lena Urzendowsky, born in 2000, grew up in Berlin and attended the theatre and musical school Stage Factory Berlin, where she graduated top of her class in 2012. She made her debut in a supporting role in the ZDF fairytale film “The Snow Queen“. After another supporting role in the feature film „Bibi & Tina: Mädchen gegen Jungs“ (2016), she became known to a wider audience in the same year through her leading role in the critically acclaimed TV film „Das weiße Kaninchen“ (English translation: “The White Rabbit“), in which she plays a teenage victim of cyber-grooming. For her lead role in the TV film „Der große Rudolph“, she received the Hessian Television Award in 2018 and in 2019 was awarded the Promotional Prize of the German Television Awards and the German Acting Award in the Young Talent category.

After graduating from high school in 2018, she played her first leading cinema role in Leonie Krippendorff‘s feature film „Kokon“ alongside Jella Haase, Lena Klenke and Elina Vildanova. The film celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale and quickly became a festival favourite. Among many other awards, Lena Urzendowsky received the Bavarian Film Award for Best New Actress and the prestigious Iris Award for „Kokon“. Since 2020 she can be seen in the Netflix series „How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)“ and received very positive feedback from audiences and the press for her ensemble lead role in the Amazon Prime series „Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo“.

Katja Hutko as Pauline

Katja Hutko was born in Berlin in 1994 and completed her acting training at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre from 2015 to 2019. In theatre, she most recently played the lead role in Lessing’s tragedy “Emilia Galotti“, directed by Kay Wuschek, with performances at the Volkstheater Rostock and the Theater an der Parkaue in Berlin.

In addition to theatre, she has also appeared on TV and the big screen for several years, having made her film debut in „Tschiller: Off Duty“ in 2016. In the 2021 TV film „Die unheimliche Leichtigkeit der Revolution“ she played a schoolgirl in communist era alongside Janina Fautz. She has appeared on television in numerous roles, often in series such as SOKO Wismar, SOKO Leipzig, SOKO Cologne or Notruf Hafenkante.

Anna Gesa-Raija Lappe as Karin

Anna Gesa-Raija Lappe was born in Hamburg in 1991. She trained at the Academy for Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg until 2017. She was nominated as Young Actress of the Year by the magazine “Theater today” for her work in the theatre production “Die Unerhörte“, which won the Körber Studio Young Director Award in 2017. In 2018, Anna Gesa-Raija Lappe changed to the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and was again nominated as Young Actress of the Year in 2019 for her portrayal of Ellida in “Nora, Hedda und ihre Schwestern“. Anna Gesa-Raija Lappe has been part of the ensemble of the Münchner Kammerspiele since 2020.

In 2016 she appeared in front of the camera for the first time, since then she has acted in several feature films.

Lara Feith as Corinna

She has appeared on stage at the Staatstheater Nuremberg, the Burgtheater Vienna, the Gorki Theater in Berlin and the Théâtre National Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco.

Till Wonka as Hans

Till Wonka was born in Dresden in 1982 and completed his acting studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig. He had engagements at the Schauspielhaus Leipzig, the Staatstheater Stuttgart and the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, where he played leading roles in plays such as “Romeo and Juliet“, “Hamlet” and Homer‘s “Iliad“. Till Wonka received solo awards in 2005 at the Actors’ School Meeting in Frankfurt/Main and in 2006 at the International Actors’ School Meeting in Bratislava, as well as an ensemble award at the NRW Theatre Meeting in 2013. Since August 2013 he has been a permanent ensemble member at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin.

Since 2011 he has also appeared in numerous TV productions such as „Tatort“ and „Polizeiruf 110“ and several feature films.

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