Petra Biondina Volpe

Swiss-Italian screenwriter and director Petra Volpe pursued her film education at the Film Academy Konrad Wolf in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany. Her notable feature, "The Divine Order," was chosen as Switzerland's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 90th Academy Awards. Premiering internationally at the Tribeca Film Festival, the film garnered acclaim, securing three awards: the Nora Ephron Prize, the Prize for Best Actress in an International Film, and the Audience Award. Achieving significant success in Switzerland, The Divine Order became a box office hit, receiving seven Swiss Film Award nominations and winning three. Volpe's debut film, Dreamland, also earned four Swiss Film Award nominations. Moreover, she wrote the screenplay for Heidi (2015), the most successful Swiss film globally. Her creation and writing of the mini-series Labyrinth of Peace received widespread acclaim and international distribution. The Golden Years (written by Petra Volpe; directed by Barbara Kulcsar) emerged as the highest-grossing film of the year in Switzerland and was sold internationally. Her latest film, Late Shift (Heldin), premiered at the Berlinale Special Gala 2025. The film has achieved significant box office success, particularly in German-speaking territories. It opened in Swiss theatres on February 27 and has been a local box office hit. It held the number one spot at the Swiss box office for four weeks and has also seen a strong performance in Germany and Austria. The film was sold to multiple territories. Volpe lives in New York and Berlin.