Maren Ade began studying at the HFF Munich in 1998 majoring in Production and Media Economics and then changed to the Film and Television Department in 2000 at the HFF Munich. In 2001 she founded the film production company Komplizen Film with Janine Jackowski and together they produced Maren Ade’s film The Forest for the Trees (2003). The film received several honours, including the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. During that same year it was nominated for the German Film Prize. Her second film Everyone Else (2009) was first shown in competition at the International Film Festival in Berlin in 2009 and received the Silver Bear as Best Film (the Grand Jury Award). Her third feature film Toni Erdmann (2016) had its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 and received the Fipresci Award. The film went on to play at many international festivals and won numerous awards.