Mala Emde

Mala Emde is a German actress born on 22 April 1996 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She grew up in a culturally engaged family—her father Thomas Emde and mother Cathrin Ehrlich encouraged artistic expression, and she shares her childhood with an older sister. From 2009 to 2012 she attended the Tanz, Theater & Musik studio in Frankfurt, where she made her stage debut as Aschenputtel in Janusz Głowacki's Die Aschenkinder and later portrayed Tartalia in Friedrich Schiller's Turandot, experiences that cemented her commitment to performance. Emde's early screen work began with the TV film Der große Tom in 2008, followed by appearances in popular German series such as Tatort and SOKO Köln, allowing her to hone her craft in a range of dramatic contexts. Her film breakthrough arrived with the 2016 feature Offline: Are You Ready for the Next Level?, after which she gained critical attention for roles in Wir töten Stella (2017) and the politically charged And Tomorrow the Entire World (2020), the latter earning her the Bisato d'Oro at the Venice Film Festival. In addition to mainstream cinema, Emde has contributed to short films like Grey Hat (2014) and Rose (2015), and she portrayed historical figures in TV docudramas such as Luther and I (2017) and Brecht (2019). Her performance as Anne Frank in the televised drama My Daughter Anne Frank garnered the Young Talent Award at the Bavarian Television Awards in 2015, highlighting her capacity for emotionally resonant portrayals. Recent projects include the 2023 feature Blind at Heart and the upcoming Köln 75 slated for 2025, confirming her ongoing relevance in contemporary German cinema. Throughout her career Emde has demonstrated versatility, moving fluidly between television, feature films, and stage, earning a reputation as one of Germany's most promising young talents.