WIFT @ Berlinale – Breaking Barriers: Women Redefining the Movie Business

KAROLINE HERFURTH

Karoline Herfurth is one of Germany’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmakers. Celebrated not only as an actress but also as a director and screenwriter, she has shaped modern German cinema with audience favourites such as Wunderschön, Einfach mal was Schönes and most recently Wunderschöner (2025), reaching millions of viewers.

Born in Berlin, Herfurth was discovered at the age of 15 and went on to study acting at the renowned Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts. Since then, she has appeared in over 30 feature films across a wide range of genres, establishing herself as one of the outstanding actresses of her generation. Her work includes international productions such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Reader and Brian De Palma’s Passion, as well as major German box-office hits like Fack ju Göhte. In 2009, she was awarded the Bavarian Film Award for Best Emerging Actress.

Her directorial debut SMS für Dich (2016), which she co-wrote, directed and starred in, marked her breakthrough as one of the most successful young directors in German-language cinema and was later adapted into a US remake starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Céline Dion. For her work as an actress and filmmaker, Herfurth has received numerous honours, including the Ernst Lubitsch Award and the Bambi for Best National Actress. Her films are known for combining emotional depth, humour and sharp social observation, with a strong focus on female perspectives and contemporary relationships.

JANINE JACKOWSKI

While studying at the HFF Munich, Janine Jackowski founded the production company Komplizen Film together with Maren Ade in 1999. Over the past 25 years, she has produced over 60 films and series, many of which have been selected and awarded at international film festivals. These include Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade (2016), which premiered in competition at Cannes, won five European Film Awards, and was nominated for a Golden Globe, César, BAFTA, and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Her work includes Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade (Cannes 2016; five European Film Awards; Golden Globe, César, BAFTA, and Oscar® nomination), Una mujer fantástica by Sebastián Lelio (Academy Award® 2018), Synonyms by Nadav Lapid (Golden Bear, Berlinale 2019), the Netflix Original series Skylines, Spencer by Pablo Larraín (Venice Competition 2021), Corsage by Marie Kreutzer, and About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (both premiered at Cannes). Most recently, she produced Maria by Pablo Larraín (Venice Competition 2024) and co-produced Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier (Cannes Competition; Norway’s Oscar entry).

Janine Jackowski is a member of the ACE Network, the EPC, the German, British, and European Film Academies, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Komplizen Film is a co-founder of the international producers‘ alliance The Creatives, an association of ten independent production companies worldwide.

CHARLOTTE REGAN

Charlotte is a BAFTA and BIFA-nominated writer-director. Her debut feature SCRAPPER, starring Harris Dickinson, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2023 and won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize (for Best Fiction Film). In 2024 it was BAFTA nominated for Outstanding British Film and nominated for 14 BIFA Awards, including 5 nods for Charlotte for Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Debut Director and Debut Screenwriter. The film was developed with BBC Films/BFI and DMC Film producing, and was released in UK cinemas in August to critical and audience acclaim. Charlotte is currently developing her 2nd feature with BBC Film and writing the feature adaptation of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME for Heyday & Plan B. She is also attached to direct feature film LOLLY WILLOWS, which Lucy Kirkwood is adapting from a novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner. Rachel Weisz is attached to star, with BBC Film financing, and House Productions and Astral Projection producing.

For TV, Charlotte has written and directed all 8 episodes of her first original drama series, MINT, which has been greenlit by BBC with Fearless Minds and House Productions producing. The project is currently in post. Previously in TV, Charlotte directed the final three episodes of Apple original series THE BUCCANEERS, produced by The Forge and Potboiler, which debuted globally on AppleTV in November 2023. Charlotte also directed the season 2 closing block of critically acclaimed drama series THE RESPONDER (Dancing Ledge), starring Martin Freeman for the BBC.Charlotte’s first short film, STANDBY premiered at TIFF and went on to be nominated for a BAFTA and win a Sundance Award. Her second short FRY-UP screened at BFI LFF, Sundance and Berlinale, and her third short DODGY DAVE played at TIFF and BFI LFF. Charlotte is a Sundance Ignite Fellow, a BFI Future Film, New Talent award winner and a 2020 Screen International Star of Tomorrow and was announced as one of the BAFTA Breakthrough cohort for 2023.

Nadean Rawlins

Nadean Rawlins is a Jamaican creative producer, director, actress, and cultural advocate committed to storytelling, mentorship, and sustainable industry development. She is the Founder and Managing Director of RAW Management Ltd., a Jamaican-based production company and talent agency established in 2015. Nadean serves as President of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA) and is the Past President of Women in Film and Television Jamaica (WIFTJA), as well as a Director of Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI). Her producing credits include Traytown, Parolytic, and Boy, Girl & All the Rest, with feature projects supported by Locarno Open Doors, La Fabrique Cinéma, and Sørfond.