Contando Films is a German Berlin-based production company, founded by Virginia Martin and Michael Fetter Nathansky. Sharing a Latin American-Spanish background, they first met during their studies at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf and have been pursuing shared paths in the film world ever since. They produced films including EVERY YOU EVERY ME (orig. ALLE DIE DU BIST, 2024), SALIDAS (2021), YOU TELL ME (orig. SAG DU ES MIR, 2019), UN CUENTO SIN TI (2019) and GABI (2017) selected and awarded at major international film festivals, such as Berlinale, San Sebastián IFF, Thessaloniki IFF, New Horizons IFF, Malaysia IFF, FEST Espinho, Leeds IFF and Palm Springs IFF.
Contando Films is dedicated to author-driven cinema, developing and producing mainly feature films, but also short films and documentaries with an international vocation for a wide audience. Their focus lies on character-driven narratives that cross genres and open up new and diverse perspectives for the audience. They seek dramaturgically and visually innovative, playful cinematic approaches on the infinite number of stories that every human being consists of, stories that have the potential to redefine the complexity of our world. That is also what Contando stands for: the endless journey of telling stories. To find those unique voices and let them flourish, they are committed to fostering trusting long-term collaborations transnationally and co-producing on an international level, with a strong affiliation to Europe and Latin America.
Contando Films is member of the German Producers Association (Produzent*innenverband e.V.). In 2022, Contando Films received the STARTBÜRO scholarship from Studio Babelsberg, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and ILB, an initiative supporting upcoming production companies from the region Berlin-Brandenburg.
Our Team
Virginia Martin
Producer
Co-Founder
Virginia Martin was born in 1990 in Berlin with a diverse heritage that combines German and Argentine roots. She is producer and co-founder of the Berlin-based independent production company Contando Films.
In 2020, she graduated with a master’s degree in Media Studies at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf after studying Media and Communication Studies and Romance Studies at the University of Mannheim and in Madrid (2011-2014). Her master’s thesis elaborates on the transnational structures of co-production between Argentina and Europe.
She produced films (e.g. EVERY YOU EVERY ME (2024), DUTY FREE (2024), SALIDAS (2021), YOU TELL ME (2019), GABI (2017)) selected and awarded at various national and international festivals (e.g. Berlinale, San Sebastián IFF, Thessaloniki IFF, New Horizons, Palm Springs IFF, German Short Film Award).
Virginia is an alumna of the East & West Co-Production Lab (WEMW Trieste 2024), the Cutting Edge Talent Camp (IFFMH 2022) and the East-West Talent Lab (GoEast FF 2021). She participated in the Open Doors Programme (Locarno IFF 2023 & 2024), the Visitors Programme at the Berlinale co-production market 2024, and the NEST programme (San Sebastián IFF 2023).
She is is a member of the German Producers Association (Produzent*innenverband e.V.). In 2022, she received the STARTBÜRO scholarship with Contando Films for upcoming production companies in the region of Berlin-Brandenburg in Germany.
She works as a guest lecturer at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. In the past years, she was also responsible for the organization and curation of several international film festivals and worked as a producer for immersive media projects in the (inter)cultural sector.
Michael Fetter Nathansky
Author & Director
Co-Founder
Director and script writer Michael Fetter Nathansky was born in 1993 and spent his youth in Cologne and Madrid. Between 2013 and 2021 he studied Film Directing at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.
His short film GABI (B.A. film) premiered at the Berlinale in 2017 in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino and won the German Short Film Award. With his M.A. graduation film YOU TELL ME (2019) he won the main award at the film festival in Ludwigshafen and was nominated for the First Steps Award and the German Film Critics Award. His short film SALIDAS was shown and awarded internationally, among others in Ann Arbour, Leeds and Espinho, and was nominated for the 2021 German Short Film Award. He is the co-writer of Sophie Linnenbaum’s THE ORDINARIES (2022) which celebrated its international premiere in Karlovy Vary and was shown at numerous international film festivals (SXSW, Zurich, Tallinn). His debut film EVERY YOU EVERY ME won two awards at the WIP Europa section of the San Sebastián Festival 2023 and will have its world premiere at Berlinale 2024 in the Panorama section.
Michael won the New Talent Award by North Rhine-Westphalia (2017) and is a Berlinale Talents alumnus (2020). In 2018, he co-founded the Berlin-based production company Contando Films with producer Virginia Martin. Since 2020, he has been represented by the agency Henschel Schauspiel Theaterverlag Berlin.
Let’s connect
For requests and requires reach out to us.
We are looking forward to get in touch with you.
Email: mail@contandofilms.de