Emily Atef

At the age of 7, Atef moved from Berlin to Los Angeles with her French-Iranian parents and her brother the drummer Cyril Atef. She was 13 when they moved to France, where Atef finished school, and later she went to London to work as an actor in the London theater scene. Atef returned to Berlin to study film direction at the prestigious Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin.

Her first feature-length film Molly's Way which, like her 2 following feature films was co-authored by Esther Bernstorff received an advancement award at the Filmfest München (film festival Munich) in 2005 for best script and the Grand Jury Award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival, the only A-Festival in South America as well as several other awards. Her second feature-length film The Stranger in Me which deals with a young mother having postnatal depression also received several awards and was screened at the International Critics' Week of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, Emily Atef wrote and directed the feature film 3 Days in Quiberon It depicts 3 emotional days of one of Europe's biggest stars, Romy Schneider where she gave her last German interview to ‘Stern’ magazine. 3 Days in Quiberon had its world premiere in the competition section of the 68. Berlin International Film Festival and competed for the Golden Bear. 3 Days in Quiberon was the big winner at the German Academy Awards in 2018 taking home seven Lolas. In 2022 her film More Than Ever, starring Vicky Krieps and Gaspard Ulliel, was shown in the section Un certain regard at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.