About Us

From left to right: Svenja Vanhoefer, Charlene Kilthau, and Chiara Fleischhacker.

REBELLE FILM was founded in 2025 by us — Svenja Vanhoefer, Charlene Kilthau and Chiara Fleischhacker — in Weimar. We develop and produce bold and contemporary stories with a particular focus on FLINTA* perspectives.
As filmmakers, we believe in the power of storytelling. We want to champion stories that are aware of their stance and impact while preserving their complexity and multi-layered nature. We are interested in films and series that move and inspire audiences and spark creative as well as societal impulses. In doing so, we intentionally refrain from limiting ourselves to specific genres or formats.

As the founders of REBELLE FILM, we met during the creation of the graduation and feature film VENA. Since then, we have been working to combine our passion for storytelling with a contemporary and responsible approach to production (see Vision). It is a task through which we hope to grow together, continuously seeking new pathways in dialogue with other filmmakers and the industry.

Svenja Vanhoefer

Producer and Managing Director

Svenja Vanhoefer was born in 1994 in Essen and grew up in Hamburg. After studying Theatre, Literary and Media Studies at LMU Munich, she gained her first practical experience as an assistant director at the Residenztheater and in the independent theatre scene, among others. She found her way into the film industry through advertising, where she spent several years supervising national and international productions. From 2021 to 2024, she studied Production as a lateral entrant with a focus on “Executive and Line Producing” at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. During this time, she was chiefly responsible for producing several short films, the feature film VENA, and the documentary MORIA SIX, which was awarded the DEFA Sponsorship Prize and the Prize of the Leipziger Ring at DOK Leipzig in 2024. Her graduation film VENA was nominated for the German Film Award in three categories. For her work as a producer on VENA, Svenja also received the Hamburg Producer Award and was nominated for the Carl Laemmle Young Talent Award. She was a VFF scholarship holder and participated in the renowned Hollywood Masterclass of the Filmakademie in cooperation with UCLA in Los Angeles, as well as in the Desert Workshop “From the Incense Route to Mt. Karkom” in Israel (2022). Since July 2025, Svenja Vanhoefer has been Producer and Managing Director at REBELLE FILM.

Charlene Kilthau

Producer

Charlene Kilthau was born in 1999 in Mannheim. After gaining initial hands-on experience in the media sector and conducting a research trip on the subject of freediving in southern France, she studied Society and Economic Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts from 2019 to 2024. Starting in 2021, she worked simultaneously as a script consultant and second assistant director, playing an intensive role in the research, story development, and production of the feature film VENA, accompanying the project through its release while actively managing its social-media strategy. Following a producer traineeship at UFA Serial Drama, she was accepted into a state film school but chose instead to found REBELLE FILM together with Chiara Fleischhacker and Svenja Vanhoefer. In 2025, she took part in the Talent Lab of the Goldener Spatz Festival and served as a member of the European Young Producers’ Jury at the Augenblick Festival in Strasbourg.

Chiara Fleischhacker

Screenwriter and Director

Chiara Fleischhacker was born in 1993 in Kassel. After finishing school, she lived in Havana, then studied Psychology in Freiburg and Documentary Directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. During a semester abroad at La Fémis, she created her first narrative short film GOLDEN GIRL, which—like her subsequent film WHAT REMAINS—was awarded at numerous international festivals.
Her feature film debut VENA received several national and international awards, including the First Steps Award for Best Feature-Length Film and the German Film Critics’ Award for Best Debut Feature. VENA was also nominated in three categories for the German Film Award, including “Best Film.”

Chiara Fleischhacker lives in Weimar with her daughter and works with REBELLE FILM on her own projects as well as on the shared vision of a diverse and socially sustainable film industry.