Deep Dive:
Production Design
FilmFest Hamburg continues its Deep Dive series with a second edition dedicated to production design. On 29 September, Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer will discuss their long-standing creative partnership and the making of the cinematic world of Barbie. Launched in 2025, Deep Dive shines a spotlight on key filmmaking departments and the artists working behind the camera.
Greenwood and Spencer are one of the most highly regarded creative teams in international cinema. Each of them has received seven Academy Award nominations. Their collaborations include Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Sherlock Holmes, Anna Karenina, Beauty and the Beast, Darkest Hour and Barbie. They received the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design for their work on Atonement.
Their collaboration began at the BBC and has since developed into a close creative partnership spanning more than two decades and numerous productions. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is currently presenting a major exhibition dedicated to their work, entitled “Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer”.
At FilmFest Hamburg, the duo will explain their respective roles and explore how production design and set decoration work together, from the first visual concepts and the selection of materials and colour palettes to the final dressing of a set. Particular attention will be paid to the creation of Barbieland, a world whose shiny surfaces and apparent perfection play a central role in the film’s narrative. Following the panel, Barbie will be screened in the Dolby Cinema auditorium at KINOPOLIS.
Tickets for the screening and for the panel talk will be on sale from 10 September 2026.
