ALL IN – The Rise of German Women's Basketball

  • nordische filmtage

SEPTEMBER 2026. THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COMES TO BERLIN. THE GERMAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM CALLS ITSELF THE "GOLDEN GENERATION" — AND THEY ARE NOT JUST HERE TO WIN A MEDAL. THEY ARE HERE TO CHANGE THE GAME.

Year

2026

Length

60 min

Directors

Thomas Pletzinger, Timon Moderson

Share

Synopsis

German basketball has never been bigger. The men are reigning World and European Champions. The women are Olympic champions in 3×3. More German athletes play in the WNBA than ever before. Wherever they go, they win. And now, for the first time, the Women’s World Championship comes home — to Berlin.

ALL IN follows the German women’s national basketball team through an extraordinary year in professional basketball — from the courts of New York, Madrid, and Valencia to the grand stage of their home tournament. It is a portrait of a confident, witty, and deeply cosmopolitan group of young women who carry something far greater than athletic ambition.

We follow superstar Satou Sabally under the bright lights of New York. Rising sensation Frieda Bühner finding her footing in Madrid. Leonie Fiebich stepping up in Valencia. Captain Marie Gülich, sidelined by injury, fighting behind the scenes to return in time. And point guard Alex Wilke — the only player in the squad still juggling a teaching career alongside life as a professional athlete. Each of them has made sacrifices. Each of them carries the weight of a sport that has long been someone else’s game.

But ALL IN is more than a sports documentary. It is the story of a generation of women taking on the patriarchal structures of professional sports — fighting the pay gap, the lack of visibility, the loneliness of careers spent far from home. They speak openly about systemic inequality and the deeply personal ways in which they push back — with humor, resilience, and an unshakeable sense of purpose.

The team is a metaphor for something larger: for solidarity and collective strength, for equality and visibility, for the belief that sports can shift the culture around it. These women are role models, trendsetters — and agents of change.

Written & directed by
Thomas Pletzinger
Timon Modersohn

Camera
Tobias Tempel
Thomas Lütz
Thomas Eirich-Schneider
Jonny Müller-Goldenstedt
Vanessa Schröder (DBB) 

Editors
Andi Pek
Tim Kraushaar (Additional)

Sound
Veronika Neuber
Helen Hess
Moritz Kerst

Archive Producer
Florian Tropp

Colorist
Bernie Greiner

Sound Mix
Sascha Prangen

Postproduction Supervisor
Alexander Steyer

Line Producer beetz brothers
Ferdinand Freising

Production Managers beetz brothers
Lea Helen Hepe
Marcel Rechten  

Production Managers ZDF
Silke Steinbrenner
Jens Eschholz

Production Managers on set
Lóránd Barabás
Theresa Altmeyer

Production Assistants
Helen Haase
Hendrik Ströhle

Junior Producer
Lena Marie Reimers 

Executive Producer
Eva Fouquet

Commissioning Editors ZDF
Marie-Julie May
Daniel Pinschower 

Produced by
Reinhardt Beetz

ALL IN – The Rise of German Women’s Basketball
Trailer

In co-production with

  • one gate
  • wdr
  • ndr
  • swr
  • mdr
  • br
  • rbb

In collaboration with

  • arte

Produced for

  • zdf

ALL IN – The Rise of German Women's Basketball

  • nordische filmtage

SEPTEMBER 2026. THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COMES TO BERLIN. THE GERMAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM CALLS ITSELF THE "GOLDEN GENERATION" — AND THEY ARE NOT JUST HERE TO WIN A MEDAL. THEY ARE HERE TO CHANGE THE GAME.

Year

2026

Length

60 min

Directors

Thomas Pletzinger, Timon Moderson

Share

Synopsis

German basketball has never been bigger. The men are reigning World and European Champions. The women are Olympic champions in 3×3. More German athletes play in the WNBA than ever before. Wherever they go, they win. And now, for the first time, the Women’s World Championship comes home — to Berlin.

ALL IN follows the German women’s national basketball team through an extraordinary year in professional basketball — from the courts of New York, Madrid, and Valencia to the grand stage of their home tournament. It is a portrait of a confident, witty, and deeply cosmopolitan group of young women who carry something far greater than athletic ambition.

We follow superstar Satou Sabally under the bright lights of New York. Rising sensation Frieda Bühner finding her footing in Madrid. Leonie Fiebich stepping up in Valencia. Captain Marie Gülich, sidelined by injury, fighting behind the scenes to return in time. And point guard Alex Wilke — the only player in the squad still juggling a teaching career alongside life as a professional athlete. Each of them has made sacrifices. Each of them carries the weight of a sport that has long been someone else’s game.

But ALL IN is more than a sports documentary. It is the story of a generation of women taking on the patriarchal structures of professional sports — fighting the pay gap, the lack of visibility, the loneliness of careers spent far from home. They speak openly about systemic inequality and the deeply personal ways in which they push back — with humor, resilience, and an unshakeable sense of purpose.

The team is a metaphor for something larger: for solidarity and collective strength, for equality and visibility, for the belief that sports can shift the culture around it. These women are role models, trendsetters — and agents of change.

Written & directed by
Thomas Pletzinger
Timon Modersohn

Camera
Tobias Tempel
Thomas Lütz
Thomas Eirich-Schneider
Jonny Müller-Goldenstedt
Vanessa Schröder (DBB) 

Editors
Andi Pek
Tim Kraushaar (Additional)

Sound
Veronika Neuber
Helen Hess
Moritz Kerst

Archive Producer
Florian Tropp

Colorist
Bernie Greiner

Sound Mix
Sascha Prangen

Postproduction Supervisor
Alexander Steyer

Line Producer beetz brothers
Ferdinand Freising

Production Managers beetz brothers
Lea Helen Hepe
Marcel Rechten  

Production Managers ZDF
Silke Steinbrenner
Jens Eschholz

Production Managers on set
Lóránd Barabás
Theresa Altmeyer

Production Assistants
Helen Haase
Hendrik Ströhle

Junior Producer
Lena Marie Reimers 

Executive Producer
Eva Fouquet

Commissioning Editors ZDF
Marie-Julie May
Daniel Pinschower 

Produced by
Reinhardt Beetz

ALL IN – The Rise of German Women’s Basketball
Trailer

In co-production with

  • one gate
  • wdr
  • ndr
  • swr
  • mdr
  • br
  • rbb

In collaboration with

  • arte

Produced for

  • zdf