A film historian and former international publishing director of Variety magazine, Peter Cowie has written more than 30 books on major figures and eras of world cinema, including Bergman, Welles, Coppola and Kurosawa. He published and edited the annual International Film Guide for 40 years and has contributed numerous commentaries to Criterion’s DVD collection. He has been a consultant to Berlinale Talents since the programme’s inception in 2003.

Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1948, she graduated from the FAMU Film School in Prague and began her career assisting Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda. She collaborated with Krzysztof Kieslowski on the screenplay of his trilogy, Three Colors. Her film Gorączka screened in Competition at the Berlinale in 1981, the year in which she emigrated to Paris. Since then she has made over 30 films, winning awards including the Emmy, Golden Globe, Golden Lion and BAFTA. Her films In Darkness, Europa Europa and Bittere Ernte (Angry Harvest) were all nominated for an Oscar®.

Director, screenwriter, film composer, and producer Tom Tykwer achieved his international breakthrough with RUN LOLA RUN in 1998. His first film in English, HEAVEN (2002), was followed by PERFUME (2006) and THE INTERNATIONAL (2009). After THREE (2010), which won him the German Film Award for Best Director, came CLOUD ATLAS (2012), a collaboration with the Wachowskis. He then made A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING (2016) and the acclaimed series BABYLON BERLIN together with Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1959. Whilst taking a degree in psychology he also studied directing and dramaturgy at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin under Krzysztof Kieślowski. He directed his first documentary in 1992, followed by Balagan (Berlinale 1994) and Black Box BRD (Black Box Germany, Berlinale 2002). His feature film debut Wer wenn nicht wir (If Not Us, Who) premiered in the Berlinale Competition in 2011 and won the Alfred Bauer Prize. His theatre play 'Der Kick' was first performed in 2005; its film adaptation screened in the Panorama in 2006. In 2013 he directed the premiere of his play 'Das Himbeerreich'.