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europe! voices of women+ in film empowering European women and genderqueer filmmakers
EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN+ IN FILM is EFP’s label and programme to give a voice to gender imbalance in the international film industry through promotion and networking. In partnership with major international film festivals, EFP travels the label outside of Europe and initiates online and on-site activities to foster a supportive community among European women or genderqueer filmmakers while furthering their careers through knowledge exchange and tailor-made contacts with key international film industry players. Any European film by a woman or genderqueer director selected by the participating festivals is eligible to be featured and supported under EUROPE! Voices of Women+ in Film.
EUROPE! Voices of Women+ in Film is a collaboration with Sydney Film Festival in Australia, the Busan International Film Festival in South-Korea and Festival do Rio in Brazil. This initiative goes back to the previous programme launched by EFP and Sydney Film Festival in 2016 to tackle gender inequality in film by connecting movies with worldwide audiences and new markets.
how to participate
Any European film directed by a woman or genderqueer director, and selected by the participating festivals, is eligible to be featured with a visibility campaign under EUROPE! Voices of Women+ in Film with the support of the respective EFP members.
virtual networking summit 2025
Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir is a director, screenwriter, and actress who works across theatre and film. As an actress, she is known for COLD (2023) and DÍS (2004). Her feature debut, BAND, premiered at Hot Docs Festival in 2022.
Álfrún Helga Örnólfsdóttir (Iceland)
Band (Iceland 2022)
Sydney Film Festival 2023
Anna Hints is a multi-awarded Estonian film director and scriptwriter with deep roots in the distinct culture of South East Estonia and a background in contemporary art and experimental folk music. Anna’s debut feature documentary SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD won the Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the European Film Award for Best European Documentary in 2023. Anna’s latest work, the short fiction film SAUNA DAY, created in collaboration with Tushar Prakash, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week in 2024.
Anna Hints (Estonia)
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Estonia, France, Iceland 2023)
Sydney Film Festival 2023
Berlin-based writer/director. Her debut TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER premiered at Berlinale 2022. Winner of the German Film Critics Award. Developing her second feature IM FLUSS (WHAT FLOWS REMAINS) with FFA support and New Matter Films & Panama Film.
Annika Pinske (Germany)
Talking About the Weather (Germany 2022)
Sydney Film Festival 2022
Avelina Prat, graduated in architecture, has worked as a script supervisor on over 30 feature films with directors such as Cesc Gay, David Trueba, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, and Javier Rebollo. Her debut feature, VASIL (2022), premiered at the Warsaw International Film Festival and won Best Actor at Valladolid IFF (SEMINCI), also earning multiple Berlanga Awards. Her second feature, THE PORTUGUESE HOUSE (2024), premiered in the Official Selection at the Málaga Film Festival and has screened internationally at festivals including BAFICI, San Sebastián, and Guadalajara.
Avelina Prat (Spain)
The Portuguese House (Spain, Portugal 2025)
Festival do Rio 2025
Eline Gehring is a writer and director whose international career spans award-winning films, documentary work and acclaimed television series. After the global success of her debut feature NICO and the Grimme Award–winning HUNGRY, she is now developing her next feature FAREWELL.
Eline Gehring (Germany)
Nico (Germany 2021)
Sydney Film Festival 2021
Eva Vitija is a screenwriter, director, and producer. She studied screenwriting at the DFFB and documentary directing at the ZHDK. Her films MY LIFE AS A FILM (2015) and LOVING HIGHSMITH (2022) have been screened worldwide and have won multiple awards. She was a producer of THE HEARING (2023). She is a board member of the Suissimage Cultural Commission and the Zurich Film Foundation and also works as a script consultant.
Eva Vitija (Switzerland)
Loving Highsmith (Switzerland, Germany 2022)
Sydney Film Festival 2022
Johanna Moder is an Austrian screenwriter and director. Her feature debut HIGH PERFORMACE won the prestigious Audience Award at the 2014 Max Ophüls Festival. Johanna's feature ONCE WERE REBELS had its intl. premiere at Zurich Film Festival, winning the Ecumenical Jury Prize, as weil as Best Director at the 2020 Max Ophüls Festival and the 2020 Thomas Pluch Screenwriting Award. Her recent film MOTHER'S BABY had its premiere in the Berlinale Competition 2025.
Johanna Moder (Austria)
Mother’s Baby (Austria, Switzerland, Germany 2025)
Festival do Rio 2025
Born in Switzerland in 1983. She has a Master’s degree in Philosophy and Literature from University of Zurich and a Master’s degree in Film Directing from the KHM (Academy of Media Arts Cologne). Her films show intimate portraits that balance between inner and outer reality, blurring the line between documentary and fiction. IMMORTALS (2024) started its worldwide festival career at CPH:DOX in the DOX:AWARD, was broadcast on BBC and won the Prix de Soleure 2025.
Maja Tschumi (Switzerland)
Immortals (Switzerland, Iraq 2024)
Sydney Film Festival 2024
Writer and director of THE RETURN (2018) which received a Special Mention at Rotterdam IFF. Her most recent feature THE QUIET MIGRATION premiered at the Berlinale, won a FIPRESCI Prize, and was nominated for a European Discovery at the European Film Awards.
Malene Choi (Denmark)
The Quiet Migration (Denmark 2023)
Sydney Film Festival 2023
Marta Savina is an award-winning writer-director interested in complex contemporary issues, with a focus on women and marginalized communities. Her debut feature, PRIMADONNA, earned critical acclaim and awards at many international festivals, including the BFI and the Festival del Cinema di Roma.
Marta Savina (Italy)
Primadonna (Italy 2022)
Sydney Film Festival 2023
Robin Petré is an award-winning Danish director whose films revolve around our coexistence with animals and nature. Her feature-length debut FROM THE WILD SEA (2021) and her latest film ONLY ON EARTH (2025) both premiered at the Berlinale.
Robin Petré (Denmark)
From the Wild Sea (Denmark 2021)
Sydney Film Festival 2021
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