Soleen Yusef was born in 1987 in the city of Duhok, in the region of Bashur (South Kurdistan). At age nine, her family fled to Germany for political reasons. Soleen gained early industry experience working as a production, directing, and sales assistant at the film production and distribution company mîtosfilm. In 2008, she began studying film directing at the renowned Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her third-year film, Trattoria, premiered at the 2012 Berlinale in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. For her exceptional academic performance, she was awarded the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship for the 2012/2013 academic year.
Her debut feature film, Haus ohne Dach (House Without Roof), which she shot in her hometown of Duhok in 2015, also served as her graduation film from the Filmakademie. Since then, she has directed several international series for major platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime. In 2022, she directed the Disney+ mini-series Sam – A Saxon.
Sieger Sein (Winners) is a children’s film produced by DCM, which had its world premiere in Berlinale’s Generation Kplus competition in February 2024.
