Walid Nakschbandi

Walid Nakschbandi is an award-winning German film producer, journalist, and media executive who currently serves as the CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, a position he assumed in early 2024. Born on August 14, 1968, in Kabul, Afghanistan, he immigrated to Germany, where he studied Political Science and Law in Bonn and Berlin before beginning his career as a political journalist. He spent over two decades with the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, notably serving as the longtime managing director of the television production company AVE and later as Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer of the holding company. As a producer, Nakschbandi is recognized for acclaimed historical and biographical works, including The Diary of Anne Frank (2016), Friedman (2001), and the docudrama Franz Josef Strauß - Ein deutsches Leben (2010). His work has earned numerous accolades, such as the German Television Prize and the Adolf Grimme Prize, cementing his reputation as a leading figure in the German media landscape.