Berlinale Talents is a programme and inspiration forum for film professionals to connect and exchange experiences and ideas. It is part of the Berlin International Film Festival and since its inception in 2003 it has developed into an unmissable event in the film industry. The Slovak representative at Berlinale Talents 2025 is the cinematographer Simona Weisslechner.
Simona Weisslechner (1987) studied photography at the School of Applied Arts and graduated from the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts where she studied cinematography. As a camerawoman, she has collaborated on several short films, including the title Green Line, which was screened in the Future Frames section at the Karlovy Vary IFF in 2015. She has extensive experience as a first assistant camera on several Slovak, Czech and international productions (Wheel of Time, Whisky Cavalier, Dracula) and has worked with prominent directors such as Michel Gondry, Guy Ritchie and Darius Khondji. In 2023, her feature cinematography debut She – Hero was premiered at Berlinale, where it won the Grand Prix in the Generation Kplus section. Simona returns to Berlin not only as a participant of the Berlinale Talents programme, but she will also attend the world premiere of the animated feature film Tales from the Enchanted Garden, shot by her. In Slovakia, two feature films which she has collaborated on as a cinematographer, are at different stages of production: the stop-motion animated film Living Large is entering domestic distribution and the feature drama Caravan is being completed. Simona is a member of the Association of Slovak Cinematographers (ASK).
More information about Simona Weisslechner’s work can be found on the Berlinale Talents website.
