Valentin Thurn

Valentin Thurn (born 1963, Stuttgart, Germany) is a German film maker, writer and director. He created the 2010 documentary Taste the Waste. He is also the co-founder of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.

Early life
Valentin Thurn was born in 1963 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Career
The television documentaries that he has written and directed have received awards and have been aired for numerous national German broadcasters. He is the founder of the Cologne-based Thurn Film production company which began in 2003. His film Taste the Waste which was shown at UK Green Film Festival, City Screen, York on May 19, 2012, exposed how a significant percentage of food on its journey from the farm to the dinner table ends up in landfill. He interviewed everyone in the food chain which included food producers, consumers to administrators and even politicians. It won Best Film of 2011 at Germany’s Atlantis Environment and Nature Film Festival. It also got the Documentary Film Award at EKOFILM International Film Festival in the Czech Republic. Another award in Germany that the film picked up was Environmental Media Prize by the German Environmental Organisation.

He founded the food sharing website Foodsharing.de, which was launched in January 2013. It was set up as a practical way to help to help solve food waste. The difference between this operation and food banks where people would have to prove they were needy, this one could be accessed by anybody. It was reported in November 2014 by the New York Times that in December that year, Foodsharing.de would incorporate Lebensmittelretten.de, a food sharing website which was founded by Raphael Fellmer.

He has been quoted as saying "the food industry played on consumers’ feelings to get them to buy."

Filmography

 * 10 Billion - What's on your plate? (10 Milliarden - Wie werden wir alle satt?) - 2015
 * Die Essensretter - 2013
 * Taste the Waste - 2010
 * Guillaume Depardieu - Es ist die Hölle! - 2010
 * Ein Lotse fürs Leben  - 2009
 * The Whistleblower - Der aufsässige Staatsdiener - Ein Beamter packt aus - 2009
 * Unschuldig im Knast - 2009
 * Tod im Krankenhaus - 2008
 * Gefundenes Fressen - 2008
 * Samenspender unbekannt - 2008
 * Impfen - Nur ein kleiner Nadelstich? - 2007
 * Faustrecht hinter Gittern - 2007
 * Mit meiner Tochter nicht - Frauen-Beschneidung in Europa - 2007
 * Ich bin Al Kaida - Das Leben des Zacarias Moussaoui - 2006
 * Mein Kind in deinem Bauch - 2006
 * Mein Vater will mich umbringen - Frauen auf der Flucht vor Ehrenmorden - 2005
 * Bittere Pillen - 2005
 * Ein Kind um jeden Preis - 2005
 * Der Ruf nach dem Kind - 2004
 * Oh diese Beckers - ein Familie im Rampenlicht
 * Papa liebt einen Mann - 2003
 * Der Trail Der Toros - 2003
 * Die Story (TV Series documentary), Episode: Der Arzt und die verstrahlten Kinder von Basra (2003)