Leading FeMales

For many years, the Zurich Film Festival, in collaboration with the Müller-Möhl Foundation (MMF), has hosted an inspiring event that highlights the contemporary film world from a female perspective. The aim is to encourage women to engage in the film industry, confront barriers and stereotypes, and pursue their own unique creative paths.

Since its founding, the Müller-Möhl Foundation has been committed to promoting fair participation, representation, and visibility of women in our society. Through its initiative taskforce4women, the foundation actively engages in the fields of society, business, politics, science, culture, and media.

Until 2019, MMF helped shape the Zurich Film Festival with the "Women of Impact" series, which later evolved into the successful Leading FeMales in Film format. Together, we bring women and men from the film industry to the stage to discuss opportunities and challenges from a female perspective.

Leading FeMales in Film NextGen 2025

Launching a Career with Purpose – Where Emerging Talent Meets Gender Equality

This year, our event is specially designed for students, such as Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and early-career professionals looking to establish themselves in the film industry on Friday, October 3, 2025. In an inspiring setting, participants will meet experts from directing, production, technical fields, and acting.

The lunch gathering offers practical insights, direct exchange with industry professionals, and opportunities for meaningful networking. The aim is to encourage especially young women to take their first steps into the industry and actively shape a more diverse and inclusive film world.

With Leading FeMales in Film NextGen 2025, ZFF—together with the Müller-Möhl Foundation and ZHdK—continues to support emerging talent, combining gender equality with greater visibility and diversity in the industry.

2025 Program

From 10:45 – Doors open
11:10–11:20 – Welcome & Introduction
• Sabine Basler, CEO Müller-Möhl Foundation
• Reta Guetg, Vice Festival Director, Zurich Film Festival

11:20–11:35 – Keynote - From Set to Red Carpet: Experiences, insights, career tips – and why diversity leads to better storytelling.
• Keynote by Mona Fastvold (Director & Producer, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE), presented as a mini-conversation with moderator Olivia Kinghorst.

11:35–12:10 – Panel Talk: Breaking In – Challenges and Opportunities
With Odessa Rae (Producer, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB), David Osit (Director, PREDATORS),
Nambitha Ben-Mazwi (Actress & Entrepreneur), and Nicole Biermaier (Distribution, First Hand Films) discuss:
• How do you break into the film industry?
• What are the key challenges – especially for women?
• Which strategies, networks, and platforms are most helpful?
• What does real equality require?

12:10–12:25 – Q&A with the audience

12:30–13:30 – Flying Lunch & Mentoring Circles
In topic-focused groups, students will meet panelists for concrete questions, practical advice, and valuable new contacts.

This year’s speakers and mentors include:

Mona Fastvold

Mona Fastvold is an Academy Award-nominated director and writer based in New York and Oslo. She made her directorial debut with THE SLEEPWALKER (2012), co-written with Brady Corbet. Their collaboration continued with THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER, which won Best Director and Best First Feature at Venice and earned Fastvold an Independent Spirit nomination.

She co-wrote THE BRUTALIST with Corbet, which won the Silver Lion at Venice 2024 and received ten Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay. The film also won multiple BAFTAs and Golden Globes.

Fastvold’s second feature, THE WORLD TO COME, premiered at Venice 2020. Her third film, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE, co-written with Corbet, had its world premiere at Venice. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Odessa Rae

Odessa Rae is an award-winning American producer known for the documentary NAVALNY (2022), which won an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award for Best Documentary. Her productions have been featured at major international festivals, including HOLLYWOODGATE (2023) at the Venice Film Festival and IT DOESN’T MATTER (2024) at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2023, Rae received the UN Sustainable Goals Impact Through Film Award. She began her career as an actress alongside Brad Pitt and is fluent in Japanese.

David Osit

Emmy and Peabody Award winner David Osit is a director, film editor, and composer. He directed PREDATORS (2025), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be distributed worldwide by MTV Documentary Films and Paramount in fall 2025. Osit’s film MAYOR (2020), which follows the mayor of Ramallah, won an Emmy for Outstanding Political & Government Documentary and a Peabody Award. It screened in over 80 U.S. theaters and was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick. He also won an Emmy for Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary with THANK YOU FOR PLAYING (2015). Osit studied in the U.S. and Egypt and currently lives in New York.

Nambitha Ben-Mazwi

Nambitha Ben-Mazwi is an award-winning actress and entrepreneur, known as the first South African to hold six international Netflix credits. Her work includes roles in SAVAGE BEAUTY, BLACK MIRROR, HAPPINESS EVER AFTER, and Showtime’s KING SHAKA. She was handpicked by Beyoncé for BLACK IS KING and recently won "Best Actress 2024" at the NFTSA Awards for her performances in SAVAGE BEAUTY and EMPINI.

Named one of the top 5 entrepreneurs in South Africa by Accenture in 2019, she is also a Global Citizen Ambassador and founder of the women’s empowerment movement #SheSpeaksByLadyNam. In 2024, she was recognized by Leading Ladies Africa as one of the 20 Black women shaping global entertainment, alongside Issa Rae and Lupita Nyong’o.

Nicole Biermaier

Born in 1971 to a French-speaking mother and German father, Nicole Biermaier lives and works in Zurich. She studied Media Art in Zurich and Karlsruhe, focusing on experimental and essayistic documentary film. Since 2000, she has developed numerous art, theatre, and film projects, receiving awards and international recognition.

Nicole produced and directed a film nominated for the public prize at IDFA and released in Swiss cinemas in 2010. She has taught and mentored at universities in Bern and Zurich and worked in administrative roles in international companies.

Since 2015, Nicole has been with First Hand Films, starting in World Sales and quickly moving into global sales and materials management. In 2016, she became head of Swiss Distribution, growing the company’s presence in Switzerland and internationally.

Katharina Bhend

Katharina Bhend has worked as an editor for nearly 20 years, specializing in documentary films for cinema, festivals, and TV. She has received multiple awards and her work has been featured at several international festivals. For DAS MÄDCHEN UND DIE SPINNE (2021), Bhend was nominated for the Swiss Film Award in the category “Best Editing.” Her latest documentary, WIR ERBEN (2024), which won the 2025 Swiss Film Award for Best Documentary, earned her the Grand Prix at the Semaine de la Critique in Locarno. Other honors include the Audience Award at the Solothurn Film Festival and several Bern Film Awards. Bhend also teaches at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) and mentors filmmakers.