Guests
Guests Film Festival Women's Worlds 2025
Panelist Cinema Against Forgetting – Focus on Afghanistan
Shikiba Babori was born in Kabul and has lived in Europe since the late 1970s. In 2003, she returned to her homeland for the first time as a journalist and ethnologist to report from there and train Afghan colleagues in journalism. She is the founder of the Afghan-German women reporters’ network Kalima-News and author of the book Die Afghaninnen – Spielball der Politik (Campus Verlag). In her work, she gives visibility to the voices of Afghan women and addresses how war, power politics, and patriarchy continue to shape their lives today.
Director KICKOFF
Roser Corella began her career as a video journalist before transitioning to self-produced documentaries. She is renowned for her visually compelling narratives centered on women, customary laws, labor, and migration. Her award-winning films — Machine Man, Prisoners of Kanun, Grab and Run, and Room Without a View — have been showcased at international festivals such as CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Shanghai IFF, Thessaloniki IFF, among others.
Host opening ceremony
Conny Czymoch is an independent international moderator and journalist who moderates regularly for international organisations like the UN, ILO, FAO, OECD, World Bank as well as most German Federal Ministries.
Her core competence areas include climate change, sustainability, bioeconomy and biodiversity, human rights, labour and social relations, womens rights, equality, food and agriculture systems, health systems, resource efficiency, supply chains, corporate responsibility, mobility, migration and social integration, international relations and economics.
Her journalistic background is multi-facetted: for 14 years, she anchored news and current affairs programmes live for German TV station Phoenix; earlier, she worked as moderator and author for Deutsche Welle TV in German and English, Deutschlandradio, WDR, as well as Radio Television Hong Kong.
For the last 2 decades, Conny has been media coach for business, scientific institutions, as well as NGOs.
Host Panel Talk Social Impact Filming
Dafne-Maria Fiedler has been working as a moderator at numerous national and international festivals since 2009. She started out at the Max Ophüls Prize (MOP) film festival, followed by the Munich Film Festival (FFM), achtung berlin – new berlin film award (where she hosted the awards ceremony for seven years), and the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), where she hosted for six years. She is particularly passionate about direct exchange with female filmmakers.
In addition to her work as a presenter, she is also a coach and has founded her own coaching format, ALLOW YOURSELF. In this role, she primarily supports creative women in strengthening their presence—both in their personal lives and on their respective “stages”—in order to become visible and effective with what they want to bring into the world.
Cornelia Grünberg: Director EIGHTEEN – THE PATH IS MADE BY WALKING
Since her award-winning diploma film “PAUL IV,” Cornelia Grünberg has been continuously making films in the fictional and non-fictional genres. She is fascinated by extraordinary people such as the young women Lisa, Steffi, Laura, and Fabienne, whom she portrayed in her cinema documentaries “VIERZEHN – Erwachsen in neun Monaten” (premiered at the 2012 Berlinale) and “ACHTZEHN – Wagnis Leben” (Germany, 2014). These two films are part of her long-term project 14-18-28, which now comes to a conclusion with “ACHTUNDZWANZIG – Der Weg entsteht im Gehen” (TWENTY-EIGHT).
Cornelia Grünberg was on the board of the German Directors’ Association from 2018 to 2024 and has represented the interests of directors on the administrative board and presidium of the FFA since 2022.
Andreas Grünberg: Producer TWENTY-EIGHT
After his screenplay “ZEIT DES SCHWEIGENS” (Time of Silence) was made into a film (directed by Cornelia Grünberg), Andreas Grünberg founded Grünberg Film GmbH in 1997. Shortly thereafter, he wrote and co-produced the feature film “ZWEI IN EINEM BOOT” (Two in a Boat) (directed by Cornelia Grünberg), which premiered in 1999 in the competition section 14plus at the Berlinale. Since then, he has worked on numerous national and international film projects as a writer, associate producer, co-producer, or executive producer. Most recently, he produced the documentary film “ACHTUNDZWANZIG – Der Weg entsteht im Gehen” (Twenty-Eight), for which he was also co-writer. He is a member of AG DOK.
Director BILLIE
Sheri Hagen is a German director, screenwriter, and actress from Berlin. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in Hamburg, Sheri Hagen completed her training at the Stage School of Dance and Drama in Hamburg and at the Studio Theater an der Wien in Austria. In addition to numerous film and television projects (including The Lives of Others, Baal, Tatort, Sperling, On The Inside), she has appeared in various theater productions.
She first attracted attention as a screenwriter and director in 2007 with the short film STELLA UND DIE STÖRCHE (Stella and the Storks). The children’s short film was successfully screened at international festivals (including mo&friese KinderKurzfilmFestival Hamburg and Chicago Int. Children’s Film Festival).
The 23rd International Film Festival Emden-Norderney awarded Sheri Hagen the special prize “Schreibtisch am Meer” (Desk by the Sea) in 2012 for her debut feature film AUF DEN ZWEITEN BLICK (At Second Glance). In 2013, AUF DEN ZWEITEN BLICK won the 4th Kirchen Filmfestival Recklinghausen Prize. In fall 2013, Barnsteiner-Film released the feature film in German cinemas.
In 2015, Sheri Hagen founded the production company Equality Film GmbH. Since then, her goal has been to tell stories with relevant and powerful content that reflect a multifaceted and diverse society. In her feature film FENSTER BLAU (2016), Sheri Hagen adapted the play Muttermale Fenster Blau by author Sasha Marianna Salzmann.
In 2023, she was awarded the BKM’s Culture and Creative Pilot prize for Equality Film, and in 2024, her project MOTHERHOOD was selected by the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI) for the Berlinale Fiction Toolbox program.
Director and Producer IMPURE
Rico Herre was born in 1986 in Jena, Germany. His passion for storytelling took root at an early age. With a vivid imagination and a natural eye for detail, he began capturing moments on camera, writing short stories, and immersing himself in the world of theatre. By the age of 15, Rico directed his first short film, “The Sandbox”, which not only marked the beginning of his filmmaking journey but also earned him the TLM award for Thuringia’s Best Media Production. While being rejected from film school, but eager to further explore the art of cinema, Rico took on various jobs at leading TV production companies and theaters, and contributed to high-profile projects such as “Unknown”, “The Guardian”, and “Absolution”.
He continued to work as a First Assistant Director on various film projects, including features, shorts, music videos, image films, and commercials. He also co-directed and served as a second-unit director on several corporate productions. His short film, “Worldquake,” was met with international acclaim, winning awards for Best Screenplay and Best Director. Now, with his feature film debut IMPURE, he’s challenging the audience to witness a story that needs telling. But this film doesn’t just tell a story; it will call the viewer to action, invite for reflection, and certainly will leave a lasting emotional impact long after the credits roll.
His meticulous attention to detail in exploring the human condition through nuanced, often unexpected lenses made him push the boundaries of on-screen authenticity, knowing that the most compelling narratives come from a deep understanding of human nature. For him, the camera isn’t just a tool; it’s an extension of his vision, capturing the quiet moments between dialogue, the unspoken tension in a glance, and the atmosphere that lingers long after a scene ends. Rico will continue to push boundaries, refusing to rest on past successes. Each new project reflects his unwavering commitment to the craft and his belief that the most powerful stories are yet to be told.
Social education worker and former festival director
Irene Jung was born in Tübingen. She lived in Latin America for 20 years, where she worked in adult education, led a community project with children’s centers, and began supporting women’s projects.
She has been working for TERRE DES FEMMES since 1997, initially in the area of “social rights of textile workers.” In 2001, she organized the first TERRE DES FEMMES film festival “FrauenWelten” (Women’s Worlds) in Tübingen, which is dedicated to women’s human rights and has been held annually ever since, in Berlin since 2020. She advised the “FrauenWelten” film festivals in Bielefeld, Stuttgart, Konstanz, Leipzig, and Vienna, and published the film festival book focusing on Afghanistan as well as a DVD edition for international film schools on Samira Makhmalbaf’s extraordinary film work.
Social Impact Consultant IMPURE
Naisula is a specialist in gender integration with a focus on women, prosperity, and education. She currently works as a consultant for the Global Center for Gender Equality (formerly at Stanford University) and Future Female Africa. She is also the founder of BigSis4SmallSis, a network of women who promote girls’ education through mentoring and menstrual hygiene projects. Through this network, she led the first test screenings of the film Impure in schools in northern Kenya and now serves as Social Impact Advisor for the global campaign for Impure.
Expert DESPITE ALL THIS
Irit Neidhardt works as a freelance film scholar and curator specializing in cinema and the Middle East, and also runs the international film distribution company mec film. She is the co-producer of various Arab documentary films and has worked as a mentor for institutions in Germany and abroad. Irit Neidhardt is a lecturer at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF.
Director WRITING HAWA and panelist Cinema Against Forgetting – Afghanistan in Focus
Najiba Noori was born in 1995 in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. She began working for media organisations as a volunteer when she was just 15. She has participated in several workshops for photography and filmmaking in Kabul, Afghanistan. She has made reports and photo stories for various organisations and agencies, including the AFP, Huffington Post, MSF, FMIC, NRC and UN Women in Afghanistan. She participated at the Close-Up program 2020-2021 and at IDFA Academy 2022. She joined AFP as a video journalist in 2019. In 2021 she was obliged to leave her country when the Taliban took power in Afghanistan and lives in France. WRITING HAWA is her first documentary.
Director of NAWI – Dear Future Me and panelist for Social Impact Filming
Toby Schmutzler is a writer-director based between Munich and Cape Town.
His first feature film „Robin – Watch for Wishes“ accomplished several festival selections and awards (www.watchforwishes.com) and is distributed worldwide by Electric Entertainment.
Toby produced the documentary “Biking Borders” (www.biking-borders.de) which can be seen on Netflix. “Lockdown Movie” (www.lockdown-movie.de), developed and shot during the first wave of the COVID pandemic, is being distributed by Buffalo 8 in the US.
His most recent film is “Nawi – Dear Future Me”, a critically acclaimed and widely awarded drama about child marriage in Northern Kenya (www.nawi.film).
Together with his brother, Toby heads the Social Impact Film production company FilmCrew Media (www.filmcrew.media).
Director of NAWI – Dear Future Me and panelist for Social Impact Filming
Toby Schmutzler is a writer-director based between Munich and Cape Town.
His first feature film „Robin – Watch for Wishes“ accomplished several festival selections and awards (www.watchforwishes.com) and is distributed worldwide by Electric Entertainment.
Toby produced the documentary “Biking Borders” (www.biking-borders.de) which can be seen on Netflix. “Lockdown Movie” (www.lockdown-movie.de), developed and shot during the first wave of the COVID pandemic, is being distributed by Buffalo 8 in the US.
His most recent film is “Nawi – Dear Future Me”, a critically acclaimed and widely awarded drama about child marriage in Northern Kenya (www.nawi.film).
Together with his brother, Toby heads the Social Impact Film production company FilmCrew Media (www.filmcrew.media).
Protagonist GIRLS & GODS
Inna Shevchenko is a Ukrainian-French activist, writer, and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her courageous feminist campaigns as leader of the FEMEN movement. A vocal advocate for women’s rights and freedom of expression, she has written for Charlie Hebdo and served as an advisor to the G7 Council on Gender Equality under the French presidency. Her work includes books, keynote speeches, and films on gender roles, war, and resistance. Her latest film, Girls & Gods, continues her artistic exploration of the sacred and the rebellious in the female world.
Patroness and host Panel Talk Cinema Against Forgetting – Focus on Afghanistan
Jasmin Tabatabai is a German actress and jazz singer with Iranian roots. She celebrated her breakthrough in 1997 with her leading role as Luna in Katja von Garnier’s music film “Bandits”, for which she also composed a large part of the soundtrack. Her most important film works include “Gripsholm”, “Vier Minuten” and “Fremde Haut” and and “Mitra”. She has also made a name for herself in the world of television, appearing in numerous TV films. From 2011 to 2024, she played Mina Amiri, the first female detective of Iranian origin on German television, in the series “Letzte Spur Berlin”. She is also a successful dubbing actress and has lent her voice to prominent characters: Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” and Chiara Mastroianni in “Persepolis”. Her versatility is also evident in her recordings of numerous audiobooks, including “Reading Lolita in Tehran”. In 2012, she was awarded the Jazz-ECHO as Best Female Vocalist National. In May 2020, she released her third jazz album “Jagd auf Rehe”.
Expert WE BELIEVE YOU
Johanna Wiest has been a consultant on domestic and sexual violence at TERRE DES FEMMES since June 2023. For many years, she has also been volunteering with the Traumanetz Berlin victims' council. She is particularly committed to violence prevention among young people, education on domestic and sexual violence, and support for mothers affected by violence. In May 2024, she conducted the first nationwide survey on post-separation violence and institutional violence in visitation and custody matters at TERRE DES FEMMES.