Nothing new in Hesse: two weeks before the second round of the artistic director election in Hessischer Rundfunk, the two candidates who did not receive the required simple majority in the Broadcasting Council at the first appointment at the end of October are still up for election.

HR operations director Stephanie Weber and deputy ARD program director Florian Hager each received sixteen out of 32 votes in three ballots.

Since, according to the rules of procedure of the Broadcasting Council, after the first round of elections, only two more run-off elections per meeting are foreseen, the scenario could repeat itself on December 3, with the same candidates.

Michael Hanfeld

responsible editor for features online and "media".

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In the meantime, no further candidates have been added, said the chairman of the Broadcasting Council and the search committee, Rolf Müller, at the request of the FAZ. There are currently “no further candidate proposals from the search committee or the Broadcasting Council”. When asked about the idea, channeled in an article by the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND) with reference to the alleged wishful thinking of nameless HR employees, to appoint a double seat for the station instead of a candidate, Müller said succinctly: “A double top is in HR Law not created. "Given the financial situation of the highly indebted broadcaster, a double cast would bewhich has made high double-digit million minus amounts in the past few years, is also difficult to justify. But what happens if, after the three-time stalemate in the fourth, fifth and sixth ballots, it is again a draw? "If these ballots remain unsuccessful, there will be a new election in the next meeting, in which new nominations can be made," said Müller. So everything could go in circles.

There is no shortage of suggestions from outside to preselect a third person. The broadcasting councils are receiving a few letters of recommendation these days. The "Initiative Hessen Film" formulates an indirect election proposal in an open letter to the Broadcasting Council. There is talk of understanding the “election as an opportunity for a broadcaster that is open to the Hessian film landscape”. The HR is "the only German broadcaster that has followed a strict in-house policy to this day". The HR assigns "rarely or no productions to companies and only co-produces to a very small extent". That puts a strain on the development of the regional film and television landscape. One would like to see a departure from “the previous anachronistic broadcasting policy”.

This also includes the ideas of the Frankfurt producer and author Ina Knobloch, who was asked as a candidate by the selection committee but was not officially nominated.

The Hessen Film Initiative includes the Hessian Film Industry Association, the AG DOK Hessen, the Film- und Kinobüro Hessen, the Filmhaus Frankfurt, the Young Generation Hessischer Film and the AG Filmfestival Hessen.