Potsdam, February 5, 2026 : BENKO – SIZE DOES MATTER (AT) tells the story of the fairytale rise and sudden fall of a man who became the darling of the financial world overnight. It is a story of seducers and seduced, a story of greed, glitz and glamor, a story of power and movers and shakers. A boy from a middle-class background with the will and the ability to make big business, who rose from a local attic renovator to the architect of a billion-dollar real estate empire that pushed the boundaries of what was apparently possible – until at some point everything collapsed like a house of cards. The docudrama shows the life of René Benko not only as a great drama, but also as a grotesque about power, megalomania and unscrupulousness in the world of finance. The overarching question is: how did it get this far?

The project is being produced on behalf of NDR, SWR, RBB, ORF and SRF by UFA Fiction in collaboration with HolyScreen Media and Cineteam Hannover. BENKO – SIZE DOES MATTER (AT) is expected to be shown in the fall of 2026 in the ARD Mediathek and on the First Channel.

The 90-minute film combines play scenes with archive material and interviews. The authors are Hannah and Raymond Ley, who approached the case together with journalists Bettina Weiguny, Margret Hucko and Martin Noé. The award-winning director Raymond Ley (including I AM! MARGOT FRIEDLÄNDER, NAZIJÄGER – REISE IN DIE FINSTERNIS, WIRECARD – DER GROßE FAKE) has been shooting the scenes in Berlin and Hanover, among other locations, since the end of January. Other filming locations include Vienna, Potsdam, Dortmund and Hamburg.

Marc Lepetit, producer UFA Fiction: “As with WIRECARD – THE BIG FAKE, we were interested in the questions: Did the people involved really not realize what had changed on the way up? Did they not see what was happening and could they not sense the economic avalanches they were triggering? As filmmakers, we are very interested in pursuing these questions in the case of the high-flyer René Benko. What can you recognize, what could you guess? How does this world work? And why do such scandals happen again and again? For me, working with Hannah Ley and Raymond Ley again meant exploring these topics with the same analytical clarity and narrative power that has characterized our previous projects. Together, we wanted to paint a picture that not only shows how this could happen, but also what mechanisms, temptations and blind spots are produced by a system in which success often outshines every warning.”

Raymond Ley, director and screenplay, and Hannah Ley, screenplay: “Big promises, big numbers, big crash. The flight of Icarus – abruptly thwarted. We enjoyed exposing this investor and real estate disaster with a satirical eye. At first glance, the Signa bankruptcy looks like a drama of rich men. But we deliberately also looked at those who had to pay the price in these games of the super-rich without ever being invited to do so.”

René Benko is played by Austrian cabaret artist and actor Thomas Stipsits. Other roles include Heino Ferch, Patricia Aulitzky, Lisa Wagner, Alexander Wipprecht and Harald Schrott.

BENKO – SIZE DOES MATTER (AT) is a UFA Fiction production for NDR (lead), SWR, RBB, ORF and SRF. The editors are Marc Brasse (NDR), Dr. Andrea Bogad-Radatz and Elisabeth Ratky (ORF), Baptiste Planche and Libor Tesacek (SRF), Katharina Ringsgwandl (SWR) and Rolf Bergmann (RBB). Producers are Marc Lepetit (UFA Fiction) and Nico Hofmann, producer is Arne Packschies. The film is directed by Raymond Ley. The script was written by Hannah Ley and Raymond Ley. Creative producer and dramaturge is Thomas Laue. The production is funded by nordmedia Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen.

About UFA Fiction

UFA bundles its activities in the program genres of fiction and serial drama as well as show, factual and documentary under one roof. UFA Fiction stands for production activities in the areas of series, serials, TV movies, events and feature films and has a remarkable portfolio that has had a lasting impact on the German television landscape. For decades, UFA Fiction has delivered outstanding programs, lasting ratings successes and productions for all established partners, both nationally and internationally. Many productions have not only been great successes with audiences, but have also won numerous national and international TV and film awards, including two International Emmy Awards. These include, for example successful cinema films such as DER MEDICUS or DER JUNGE MUSS AN DIE FRISCHE LUFT, event and high-end drama formats such as UNSERE MÜTTER, UNSERE VÄTER, DEUTSCHLAND83/86/89, CHARITÉ, KU’DAMM 56/59/63 or FAKING HITLER, SAM – EIN SACHSE and ALL YOU NEED as well as the long-running crime series and series with high ratings such as EIN STARKES TEAM, DIE DIPLOMATIN and SOKO LEIPZIG. Current UFA Fiction productions include the cinema productions DAS FLIEGENDE KLASSENZIMMER and EIN FEST FÜRS LEBEN, the high-end series GUTE FREUNDE – DER AUFSTIEG DES FC BAYERN, HELGOLAND 513, MAXTON HALL – DIE WELT ZWISCHEN UNS and WHERE’S WANDA?

The managing directors of UFA Fiction are Markus Brunnemann, Nataly Kudiabor, Ulrike Leibfried and Sebastian Werninger.

Press contacts UFA Fiction:

Janine Friedrich
Head of Communications

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

Caroline Frenzel,
Manager Public Relations

caroline.frenzel@ufa.dePhone: +49 331 70 60 381

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The press release as PDF for download: