After a controversial meeting with AfD leader Jörg Meuthen, the Hessian Film Fund has split from its leader Hans Joachim Mendig. According to the Hessian Ministry of Fine Arts, the Supervisory Board decided unanimously on Tuesday in an extraordinary meeting to terminate the cooperation with immediate effect. Details did not call the ministry.
Art Minister Angela Dorn (Greens) convened the meeting last Friday as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, after pressure on Mendig had increased significantly. Among other things, filmmakers had announced that they no longer want to work with the Hessenfilm. Dorn then feared a possible image damage. Hessenfilm und Medien GmbH, headquartered in Frankfurt, bundles the entire film promotion of the state.
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Very lively and constructive political exchange of ideas today in Frankfurt with Prof. Dr. med. Moritz Hunzinger and Prof. dr. Hans Joachim Mendig. #AfD #FFM #Politics #Politics #Frankfurt
A post shared by Jörg Meuthen (@ joerg.meuthen) on Jul 24, 2019 at 9:41 PDT
At the end of July, Meuthen had posted a photo of himself to the Frankfurt PR consultant Moritz Hunzinger and Mendig in a restaurant and wrote: "Very lively and constructive political exchange of ideas today in Frankfurt". As a result, more than 300 filmmakers called for the resignation of Mendig, among them the actresses Iris Berben or Jasmin Tabatabai. Jury members of the film promotion threatened to let their offices rest. Employees of the Hessenfilm had stated in a public communication, one hopes "on a solution in the sense of the film and media location Hessen".
Hans Joachim Mendig had told the Hessian Ministry for Science and Art that it was a "private opportunity that was not related to Hessenfilm und Medien GmbH". According to the ministry, the growing estrangement between the managing director of Hessenfilm and many filmmakers has long been apparent. "There have already been talks about this with Mendig," the ministry told SPIEGEL.