Daniel Andreas Sager is a feature film director, documentary filmmaker and producer. In his films, he brings personal stories with deep political context to life through unconventional imagery.

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​​His fiction debut IF IT BLEEDS (BIS ES BLUTET) will have it's premiere at the Filmfest München 2025. The film follows an ambitious reporter at a right-wing news startup who, driven by career ambition, increasingly crosses ethical boundaries—with devastating consequences.

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His latest feature documentary INVENTING TRUTH won the German TV Award (Deutscher Fernsehpreis) and the german camera award (Deutscher Kamerapreis). The film delves into one of the biggest media scandals of our time: the creation of fictionalized articles by a DER SPIEGEL star reporter. BEHIND THE HEADLINES about investigative journalists who topple through their investigations a European government was shortlisted for the German Film Award (Deutscher Filmpreis). THE LONG DISTANCE, about the exploitative system in marathon and long-distance running, won the First Steps Award.

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In recent years he has directed documentaries across the globe, often in crisis areas and war zones such as Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Iran or Colombia. He has covered a wide range of subjects, including the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the fight against ISIS in Iraq, human trafficking on the US-Mexican border, international drug trafficking and slum gangs in Kenya, the violent trail of cocaine production in Colombia, a remote hospital in a region occupied by armed rebels in Sudan, the fight against the youth through its strict social media policy in Iran or the impact of climate change on the nomadic life in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania. 

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Awards & Acknowledgements

2025 Nomination Filmkunst Preis Ludwigshafen

2025 Nomination Fritz Gerlach Preis

2025 Nomination Bernd Burgmeister Preis, IF IT BLEEDS

2025 Deutscher Kamerapreis, PERILOUS ASSIGNMENT

2024 Deutscher Kamerapreis, INVENTING TRUTH

2023 Deutscher Fernsehpreis, INVENTING TRUTH

2022 Audience Award at Bolzano Filmfestival Bozen, BEHIND THE HEADLINES

2021 Shortlisted for Deutscher Filmpreis BEHIND THE HEADLINES

2021 Best Docs DokFest München, BEHIND THE HEADLINES

2017 Juliane Barthels Media Award, Germany, Category: Online

2017 Best Film, Festival de San Lorenzon, Paraguay, THE LONG DISTANCE

2016 Docunexion Scholarship at Documentary Film Festival of Mexico

2016 Nipkow Scholarship

2016 Best Director Award at Film Festival Zimbabwe, THE LONG DISTANCE

2015 Future Docs Scholarship at Watch-Docs Film Festival in Warsaw

2014 Best Film Award Al Jazeera Film Festival, FINISTÈRE

2015 First Steps Award, THE LONG DISTANCE

2014 Best Documentary Award at Open Eyes Film Festival, FINISTÈRE

2014 Best Director Award at Cine Mabuit Film Festival, FINISTÈRE

2013 Docu-Village Scholarship at the Film Festival Haifa

2012 Best Film Award at Kurzsüchtig Film Festival, STEPPENWÖLFE

2011 Best Film Award at Localize Film Festival, STEPPENWÖLFE