Benjamin Cantu is a German-Hungarian film and television director, author, producer, showrunner and casting director. From 2001-2003, Cantu studied animation at the Film University Babelsberg in Germany. He then went on to study directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb). In 2010, he graduated with the hybrid feature film HARVEST, which was invited to the 61st Berlinale (Generation 14Plus) and won the Teddy Reader's Award. The film was shown at numerous international festivals such as Outfest, Frameline and Viennale, as well as in German, Polish and French cinemas (Edition Salzgeber).

Parallel to his studies, Cantu began making documentaries for German and French public television. THE WORLD BELONGS TO CHAIM (ZDF/3sat), a portrait of a Jewish orthodox talmud student, was awarded the Axel Springer Prize for Young Journalists in 2007. His documentary THE BERLIN PATIENT (RBB/Arte), received the Media Prize of the German AIDS Foundation in 2012.

After completing his studies, Cantu worked for Boekamp & Kriegsheim GmbH, founded by Nils Bökamp and Felix Kriegsheim, as a creative producer, director and writer. From 2016 to 2019, Cantu was part of  Lupa Film, along with Felix von Boehm, as a creative producer, where he worked on the development and financing of documentaries, feature films and series, including THF - CENTRAL AIRPORT by Karim Aïnouz (Berlinale Panorama, 2018), LIBERTÉ by Albert Serra (Un Certain Regard, 2019). 

In 2020-21, Cantu was hired by Netflix Studios as showrunner for the realization of the award-winning four-part true crime series, DIG DEEPER - THE DISAPPEARANCE BIRGIT MAYER. 

In 2023, the historical docudrama ELDORADO - EVERYTHING THE NAZIS HATE was released as Netflix Original, which Cantu directed and co-wrote. Alongside Nils Bökamp and Felix Kriegsheim, he was also one of the executive producers of the film, which was shortlisted for the British Grierson Award and the GLAAD Media Award.

In 2019, Cantu founded Metanoia Casting in Budapest together with casting director Hermina Fátyol, which has since focused on international casting assignments. Together they worked on Ruben Östlund's THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM IS DOWN and Ann Oren's first and second feature films, PIAFFE and OBJET A. 

Between 2021 and 2024, Benjamin Cantu was involved in the founding of The Thursday Company alongside Nils Bökamp and Felix Kriegsheim , and in 2023-24, Cantu wrote and directed the four-part true crime series ZEIT VERBRECHEN - SPURENSUCHE in collaboration with the ZEIT Verlagsgruppe and X Filme, commissioned by Paramount+.

Benjamin Cantu is a Fellow of Torino FilmLab (Script&Pitch 2013), and EAVE Producers Workshop (2018), the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, and a member of the Queer Media Society Germany and BVR (Bundesverband Regie).

In 2025 he particpates in the second edition of Torino FilmLab's SeriesLab as story editor. Cantu is a member of the development jury of the German Federal Film Board.

PORTFOLIO 

LOVE SCAM
Sky Studios | Doc 90’
Writer, Co-Director, Creative Producer | The Thursday Company

2024 ZEIT VERBRECHEN - SPURENSUCHE
Paramount+, RTL+ | Doc Series 4 x 30’
Writer, Director | X Filme Creative Pool

2023 ELDORADO - ALLES, WAS DIE NAZIS HASSEN
Netflix Original | Feature Documentary 92’
Writer, Director, Executive Producer | The Thursday Company
Shortlisted for the Grierson Award and GLAAD Media Award

2021 DIG DEEPER - DAS VERSCHWINDEN DER BIRGIT MEIER
Netflix Original | True Crime Series 4 x 56’
Showrunner | Netflix Studios

2020 #HEUL DOCH - THERAPIE WIE NOCH NIE
ZDF, Arte | Comedy Series 5x15’
Creative Producer | Lupa Film

2018 ZENTRALFLUGHAFEN THF
Feature Documentary by  Karim Aïnouz
rbb/Arte | Creative Producer | Lupa Film
Festivals: Berlinale Panorama 2018

2018 JUST PUSH ABUBA
ZDF | Sitcom 6x10’
Director, Creative Producer | Lupa Film

2017 EINFACH LEBEN!
WDR/SWR/Arte | Doc Series 3 x 45’
Creative Producer | Boekamp & Kriegsheim

2016 BECAUSE OF WHO I AM
rbb/Arte | Feature Documentary 80’
Co-Writer, Co-Director, Executive Producer | Boekamp & Kriegsheim

2014 - 2016 SCITECH - OUR WORLD TOMORROW
ONTV (Ägypten), Oman TV (Oman) | TV Show 24 x 30’ (2 seasons)
Commissioning Editor, Director | Boekamp & Kriegsheim / Auswärtiges Amt

2012 DER BERLINER PATIENT
rbb/Arte | Doc 52’
Writer, Co-Director, Executive Producer | Boekamp & Kriegsheim
Awards: Medienpreis der Deutschen AIDS-Stiftung

2011 STADT LAND FLUSS
Feature 84’
Writer, Director | Edition Salzgeber
Festivals: 61. Berlinale Generation, Viennale, OUT Fest, Frameline, TLV Fest, Mix Brazil | Awards: Teddy Readers' Award, Best Feature Side by Side LGBTQ Film Festival - Бок о Бок

2011 DIE ANGST VOR DEN ANDEREN
ZDF/Arte | Doc 30’
Writer, Director, Editor | Boekamp & Kriegsheim

2009 STREETART - THE EPHEMERAL REBELLION
ZDF/Arte | Doc 52’
Writer, Co-Director | Boekamp & Kriegsheim
Festivals: Crossing Europe, Dokfilmfest Leipzig

2007 FREMDE KINDER: SOLLY’S TRACK
ZDF/3sat | Doc 30’
Writer, Director, DP | Boekamp & Kriegsheim

2006 FREMDE KINDER: DIE WELT GEHÖRT CHAIM
ZDF/3sat | Doc 30’
Writer, Director | Boekamp & Kriegsheim
Awards: Axel-Springer-Preis für junge Journalisten 2007