Director—Manuel—Inacker

About

About

Manuel Inacker

Director / Writer / Producer

Current Projects

With over a decade of filmmaking experience, Manuel has led creative teams in diverse international environments in over 30 film, TV and commercial projects - developing, directing, and producing across Germany, central & Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Türkiye, México, and the U.S.

Manuel Inacker is currently writing and directing The Land We Breathe, a feature-length documentary exploring resilience in the age of climate collapse. The film is produced by Restart Zagreb (Oliver Sertić), the production house behind the 2026 European Film Award winner Fiume o Morte; German co-producer is Melanie Blocksdorf (Compartment No 6) from Rejell. The film received a landmark grant from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (2024) and is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA (2026).

As a creative producer, he is overseeing Replay, a U.S.-German co-production starring Blu Hunt (X-Men: New Mutants, Sherlock & Daughter) and directed by music video veteran filmmaker Jason Lester (High Resolution), scheduled for release in 2027.

Track Record

Shot in Mexico, La Bestia premiered at IDFA, went on to win more than 15 international awards, and was featured at Performa New York in 2025.

His narrative music video Łódź I, starring Sundance-awarded actress Sara Klimoska, premiered at the Oscar-qualifiying HollyShorts Festival 2025 in Los Angeles, where it was nominated for Best Music Video.

His graduation film, The Law of Breathing, starring Hanna Hilsdorf (In the Fade, A Thin Line), premiered at Max Ophüls Preis in 2018, the most important festival for newcomer cinema in German-speaking countries.

His debut short Pallasseum premiered at Berlinale in 2016 - the first time a first-year student film from Film University Babelsberg achieved that selection.

He created and directed the critically acclaimed docu-series Play For Your Life (Spiel um dein Leben). Streaming on ARD Mediathek and aired in primetime on MDR in 2025, the series follows young musicians navigating high-stakes auditions at Germany's elite conservatories. As a frequent writer/director for ARTE, he helms both established and new doc formats, including Tracks East, Regards, P_OST, and Unhappy.

Education & Experience

A DAAD and Fulbright scholar, Manuel studied directing at Film University Babelsberg, Berlin University of the Arts, and California Institute of the Arts. He also holds a Bachelor’s in Social Sciences from the University of Erfurt, which included a two-year ERASMUS exchange at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, a formative experience that sparked his path toward filmmaking.

Manuel Inacker

Director / Writer / Producer

For all projects and inquiries, please contact

mail@manuelinacker.com

© Studio Inacker 2026 Instagram / Vimeo

Manuel Inacker

Director / Writer / Producer

For all projects and inquiries, please contact

mail@manuelinacker.com

© Studio Inacker 2026
Instagram / Vimeo