Bavaria Fiction hires A+E alum to head new documentary unit

Emanuel Rotstein

German scripted producer Bavaria Fiction is moving into documentaries with the launch of a new unit to be led by Emanuel Rotstein.

Rotstein, who was appointed as head of documentaries last week, is responsible for setting up the non-fiction production unit at Bavaria Fiction and is in the process of putting together a development team. He will report to Marcus Ammon, MD of content.

Rotstein previously served as senior director of Programming at A+E Networks Germany for the linear and non-linear pay-TV channels The History Channel and Crime + Investigation until December 2021.

During his time at A+E, Rotstein was responsible for documentaries such as The Liberators: Why We Fought, about the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp by the US Army; The Eleventh Day – The Survivors Of Munich 1972; Guardians Of Heritage and The Invisible Line – America’s Nazi Experiment about the Third Wave social experiment.

Most recently, he oversaw the creation of the true-crime format Face To Face for Crime + Investigation.

Prior to A+E, he headed the editorial department of MPR Film und Fernsehproduktion from 2003 to 2010 and worked under Maurice Philip Remy on documentaries such as Mogadischu, Max Von Oppenheim and Kill Hitler.

“Whether it’s true crime, biographies, investigative or historical material, our productions should be a combination of social relevance and emotional storytelling to engage with viewers and have a lasting effect,” said Rotstein.

“The world is becoming more and more complex – we want to make it more understandable and shape the factual business on a national and international level with premium productions.”