"A cool guy who plays cool guys," said Wiesbaden's Head of Cultural Affairs Dr. Hendrik Schmehl about the 2025 Honorary Award winner, who he has been a fan of since the legendary series "Auf Achse". The Wiesbaden audience in the sold-out Caligari Filmbühne celebrated Armin Rohde with a standing ovation.

A visibly moved Armin Rohde thanked the jury, the speakers, the laudator, the audience - and all his comrades-in-arms in front of and behind the camera: "You can't be good on your own. The good needs the better. That's the way it is. And anyone who thinks you can do it alone is making a mistake. I gratefully accept the award - also on behalf of everyone who spends their nights with me." On Monday, March 31, at 8.15 pm, ZDF will be showing a new episode of the "Nachtschicht" series with Armin Rohde entitled "Der Unfall".

Prior to this, Timon Gremmels, Hessian Minister for Science and Research, Art and Culture, said: "I am looking forward to the German Television Crime Film Festival in the film state of Hesse. Hessen has a great variety of backdrops and locations to offer and, in Hessen Film und Medien, a funding institution that supports and enables good films and festivals like this one. I am particularly pleased that this year's honorary award goes to Armin Rohde. He is a veteran of German film and television. His characters remain in our memories thanks to his strong presence."

The laudatory speech was held by jury member Liane Jessen, former head of television drama at Hessischer Rundfunk. She praised Armin Rohde's credible acting and his passion for the profession: "His inner core of deep passion, which he guards and preserves in the face of critics, directors, the public and even family and friends, creates an unforgettable glow on stage and in film. Regardless of the threat of ridicule, anger and exposure, he shuns censorship to serve his purpose and role in the moment. His dedication to any role, big or small, is no doubt due to his background, which has familiarized him with the facts of life. Born in Gladbeck in the 1950s, modest circumstances, decent hard-working parents, a good childhood, chaotic youth and an early escape to a foreign country - America. Back then, nothing pointed to today's Armin Rohde, who as "Good Cop" and in "Night Shift" as Inspector Erichsen looks at people and their despair, which includes his own. Armin Rohde is an inspector you won't forget. He looks deep into human abysses and sometimes the abyss looks back at him. He has given crime dramas on television a human magic."

The surprise guest of the evening was Johann von Bülow, a fellow actor in the series "Der gute Bulle", among others. Armin Rohde is a "popular actor" in the best sense of the word: "You embody a form of authenticity in your roles that makes people feel that they can trust you." It's a special pleasure to be able to play with Armin Rohde, von Bülow continues: "When the flap has been struck, you're there on the spot and blow everyone away with what you dig out of your insides. (...) As a colleague, you give me lots of ideas that I just have to turn into reality. Because that's another of your strengths: You're always with the other person. Your play is never soloistic. The saying that you are only ever as good as your partner is not only familiar to you, but also an incentive to react to the slightest change in the other person's game at all times."

Since 2019, the Wiesbaden Cultural Office has awarded the German TV Crime Festival's honorary prize for special services to TV crime drama. The award winners are Ulrike Folkerts, Matthias Brandt, Barbara Auer, Eoin Moore, Anna Schudt, Alexander Held and Adele Neuhauser. The honorary award is supported by SV SparkassenVersicherung. CEO Michael Meiers said: "Many things in the field of culture today can only be realized with sponsors. The German TV Thriller Festival Honorary Award is an affair of the heart for us."

The festival starts today, March 10, with the competition for the crime series of the year. From Tuesday to Thursday, ten films will be in the running for the 21st German TV Thriller Award. On Thursday, experts will discuss unsolved murder cases in the "Cold Cases" panel. On the same evening, the authors nominated for the "Crime x Climate" screenplay competition, which is organized jointly with Hessen Film und Medien, the MaLisa Foundation and Planet Narratives, will present their ideas for material. Festival director Cathrin Ehrlich says of Jahrgang 2025: "There's everything a crime thriller heart desires: family drama, care emergencies, historical and mystical material. We have very oddball investigators. It's best to watch all ten films and all three series nominated in 2025."

The awards of the 21st German TV Thriller Festival will be presented on Friday, March 14, at 8 p.m. in the Caligari Filmbühne. The film and series talks will once again be hosted by renowned film journalist Knut Elstermann.

The program and guests at a glance: - Monday, March 10, 6 pm, I am Scrooge (RTL+). Director Hannu Salonen, screenwriter Ronny Schalk, actor Doğuhan Kabadayı, casting director Marc Schötteldreier, producer Dominik Frankowski (Zeitsprung Pictures). 19.15 Informant - Fear over the City (NDR/ARD DEGETO FILM/ARTE/NRK). Director/screenwriter Matthias Glasner, actor Ivar Wafaei, producer Iris Kiefer (Filmpool Fiction), producer Nikola Bock, editor Christian Granderath (NDR) - Monday, March 10, 8.30 p.m. Das zweite Attentat (WDR/ARD DEGETO FILM) - Hessen premiere. Head writer/author of the novel Oliver Bottini, actor Noah Saavedra, actor Daniel Lommatzsch, editor Elke Kimmlinger (WDR) - Tuesday, March 11, 6 p.m. - Tatort - Borowski und das Haupt der Medusa (NDR) - Premiere. Director Lars Kraume, screenwriter Sascha Arango, actor Axel Milberg, actress Almila Bagriacik, producer Alfred Holighaus (Nordfilm), producer Sabine Timmermann (Nordfilm), editor Christian Granderath (NDR) - Tuesday, March 11, 8.30 p.m. - Großstadtrevier - Im Moment der Angst (ARD/NDR/ARD DEGETO FILM). Director Florian Gottschick, actress Maria Ketikidou, actress Franziska von Harsdorf - Wednesday, March 12, 10 a.m. - Tatort - Murot und das 1000-jährige Reich (HR). Director/screenwriter M.X. Oberg, screenwriter Michael Proehl, editor Jörg Himstedt (HR), caster Nathalie Mischel (HR) - Wednesday, March 12, 12:30 p.m. - Tatort - Trotzdem (BR). Director/screenwriter Max Färberböck, director Danny Rosness, actress Mercedes Müller, actress Anne Haug, producer Diana Chylla (Hager Moss Film), editor Claudia Luzius (BR). - Wednesday, March 12, 4 p.m. - Spreewaldkrimi - Böses muss mit Bösem enden (ZDF). Screenwriter Nils-Morten Osburg, actor Christian Redl, actress Mercedes Müller, producer Wolfgang Esser (Network Movie), editor Pit Rampelt (ZDF) - Wednesday, March 12, 6 p.m. - Polizeiruf 110 - Widerfahrnis (MDR) - Premiere. Director Umut Dağ, screenwriter Lucas Thiem, actor Felix Vörtler, actress Rona Özkan, producer Iris Kiefer (Filmpool Fiction), editor Denise Langenhan (MDR). - Wednesday, March 12, 8.30 p.m. - Danowski - Neunauge (ZDF) - Premiere. Author of the novel Till Raether, screenwriter/producer Annette Reeker, actor Milan Peschel, actress Isabell Polak, producer Julia Brand (Network Movie), editor Daniel Blum (ZDF) - Thursday, March 13, 10:00 a.m. - Tatort - Herz der Dunkelheit (MDR). Director/screenwriter Claudia Garde, actor Filip Schnack, producer Nanni Erben (MadeFor Film), editor Sven Döbler (MDR). - Thursday, March 13, 12:30 p.m. - Theresa Wolff - Passion (ZDF) - Hesse premiere. Screenwriter Carl-Christian Demke, actor Stefan Kurt, actor Sebastian Schneider, producer Tanja Ziegler (Ziegler Film). - Thursday, March 13, 6 pm - Talk: Cold Cases - Unsolved Murder Cases. Screenwriter Senad Halilbašić, head of TV drama HR Jörg Himstedt, editor Erin Högerle (HR). - Thursday, March 13, 7 pm - Sebastian Fitzek's The Way Home (Prime Video). Author of the novel Sebastian Fitzek, actress Luise Heyer, producer Regina Ziegler (Ziegler Film). - Thursday, March 13, 9 p.m. - Screenplay competition Krimi x Klima. The nominated young authors, actor/individual juror Jonathan Berlin, actor Wolf Danny Homann, Project Manager Climate/Biodiversity of the MaLisa Foundation Johanna Langhof, Co-Founder Planet Narratives Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth

About the festival: The German TV Thriller Festival is an event of the Cultural Office of the State Capital Wiesbaden with the support of Hessen Film & Medien, Hessischer Rundfunk and SV SparkassenVersicherung, in cooperation with the Wiesbaden Media Center and the Wiesbadener Kurier.

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