Potsdam, October 16, 2025 – This year’s winner of the UFA #PerspectiveMatters competition has been announced. With her moving and original series concept ZUGABE, screenwriter, author and actress Natascha Bub impressed both the jury and UFA’s internal Diversity Circle.

This year, the competition focused specifically on the representation of the 50+ generation in the media world and promotes innovative formats from the second half of life.

Dorothea Goldstein, executive producer and patron of the Age section in the UFA Diversity Circle: “When we called for stories that rethink old age at the end of March, we never expected such an overwhelming response: 272 ideas for material were submitted, showing how great the need is to finally make the second half of life visible. Sifting through them was a challenging but at the same time deeply enriching task. As a jury, we worked our way through the large number of entries with great care, professional depth and commitment. The quality and diversity of the entries impressively demonstrated the creative potential of the topic of age – and how important it is to give these perspectives space. The decision as to who should win was anything but easy, but in the end the choice fell on a subject that moved us all deeply: ZUGABE by Natascha Bub – poetic, sensitive, powerful.”

Tom Keune, jury member: “I am impressed by how precisely and calmly themes such as shame, loss of control, desire, dignity and community are dealt with – especially in the context of age and physicality. The characters are complex, unembellished and carry real conflicts. They do not undergo a transformation ‘to a better version’, but struggle for room for maneuver, self-definition and closeness. The point here is not that they want to be relevant ‘again’ – but that they are still relevant, even if the system has long since sorted them out.”

Natascha Bub, winner of the competition: “I believe we all have a right to come forward, to be seen and to be celebrated. This award means so much to me because despite all the failures and disappearances and struggles, ZUGABE tells of carrying on, of loving on and dancing on, of living on. Because in a way, it’s a story that has a lot to do with me. And one that will hopefully touch other people soon.”

In addition to the prize money of 3,000 euros, Natascha Bub will receive the opportunity to further develop her series concept together with UFA and thus pave the way for a serialized film adaptation. More information about the UFA series competition #PerspectiveMatters can be found here.

As part of a voluntary commitment, UFA has been the first production company in the German-speaking market to document the development of the visibility of previously underrepresented groups such as women, PoC, queer people, older people and people with disabilities in leading and supporting roles in series and films produced in-house as well as shows and documentaries since 2020. The current figures of the voluntary commitment are available here.

About UFA

UFA is one of the leading production companies for series and films, shows and documentaries in the German-speaking world. New and long-running programs from UFA reach an average of over 30 million people every week and are currently available on almost all TV channels and streaming services. The creative house bundles the range of its genres in the units UFA Fiction, UFA Serial Drama, UFA Show & Factual, UFA Documentary and UFA Mitte under one roof. UFA is part of the international production company Fremantle, the global production arm of RTL Group. UFA, rich in tradition, was founded in 1917 and is now present at five locations in Germany. Its headquarters are in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The CEO of the company is Sascha Schwingel. The COO is Natalie Clausen.

Press contacts UFA Fiction:

Janine Friedrich
Head of Communications

janine.friedrich@ufa.dePhone: +49 331 70 60 379

Natalie Göpfert
Junior Communications Manager
natalie.goepfert@ufa.de
Phone: +49 331 70 60 383

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The press release as pdf for download: