With just weeks to go until the 2026 WIFTI Summit, we’re delighted to announce another round of speakers joining our growing international lineup.
Taking place from 4–7 February 2026 in Adare, Co. Limerick, the Summit will bring together women working across film, television and the wider screen industries for several days of conversation, collaboration and connection.
Following our first speaker announcement last month, we’re excited to now welcome additional voices shaping the future of screen, storytelling and creative leadership, including Teresa Mc Grane, Dearbhla Walsh and Eranka Weerasuriya.
More speakers and the full Summit programme will be released very soon!
Scroll below to discover our newly announced speakers, with further announcements coming in the weeks ahead:
Teresa Mc Grane
Chief Operating Officer, Wild Atlantic Pictures
In 2023, Teresa took up a new post with Wild Atlantic Pictures in Dublin, as Chief Operating Officer.
Previously she was Deputy CEO of Screen Ireland for over 2 decades. Screen Ireland is Irelands
Screen agency fostering Irish artistic vision and Ireland’s diverse creative and production talent,
growing audiences, and attracting filmmakers and investment into the country.
During the time she spent at Screen Ireland she was across the commercial and financial aspects
of projects that the Board invested in, to the marketing and promotion of Irish films and the
Irish film sector, domestically and internationally. She was also across the Boards strategy with
regard to the development of the industry and the development of skills to increase the creative
and business capacity of the sector.
She represented the Screen sector at a European level being Irelands representative on EFAD
(European Film Agency Directors) and was recently a member of the European OMC working
group on European co-production.
Prior to Screen Ireland, she was an independent producer and also a production accountant on
many large-scale feature films that shot in Ireland. She also worked for many years in the UK
television sector ad production accountant.
She is a qualified Certified Accountant and has a Masters in Business Administration from Dublin
City University.
Dearbhla Walsh
EMMY, BAFTA and IFTA award-winning director
Dearbhla Walsh is a renowned, international director whose work has been recognised with multiple awards wins and nominations including EMMY, BAFTA and IFTA awards. Dearbhla’s newest show is MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES for Apple TV/ A24, starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman.
Dearbhla was lead director and EP for both series of the BAD SISTERS. She has directed multiple episodes of FARGO, and the award-winning Washington DC episode of THE HANDMAID’S TALE. Dearbhla’s work has also ranged from LITTLE DORRIT (winning her a Best Director Emmy) to Roald Dahl’s ESIO TROT with Dame Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman, TALES FROM THE LOOP, and SHAMELESS.
Eranka Weerasuriya
Head of Virtual Production at Studio Ulster Ltd
Eranka Weerasuriya is the Head of Virtual Production at Studio Ulster Ltd, a £72 million next-generation virtual production studio and creative technology firm based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With more than two decades of experience spanning Virtual Production, Visual Effects, Animation, and Live Action, Eranka has an unwavering passion and commitment to advancing immersive storytelling and driving technological innovation. She has been integral in delivering high-profile film, television, commercial, and branded entertainment projects for international clients.
Most recently, Eranka served as Head of Production (VP) at Eyeline Studios, Powered by Netflix, where she managed over 65 virtual production shoots and led cross-functional teams comprising up to 150 members worldwide. Previously, she held key roles at Industrial Light & Magic in both London and Singapore, where she contributed to the strategic bidding, planning and execution of VFX productions and effectively managed client relationships on major projects.
These speakers join an already inspiring group of practitioners, leaders and changemakers from across Ireland and around the world.
Have a glimpse below at the previously announced speakers:
WIFTI SUMMIT 2026 SPEAKERS
Anna Serner
Former CEO, Swedish Film Institute and 50/50 by 2020 Champion
Anna is a lawyer but has spent her professional life as a CEO at three major organisations; The Swedish Advertising Association (Komm), The Swedish Media Publishing Association (TU) and The Swedish Film Institute (SFI) where she was CEO 2011-2021.
In all her positions Anna has worked with equality and inclusion in order to make sure the highest possible quality and freedom of expressions.
During her period at Komm she published a book ”A Man Called Rolf, And Other Stories”, written by female copy writers. It was a book about being a copy writer in the advertising world. The book led to a leadership educations for women in creative works, an education that she offered in the film world (called ”Moviement”) at SFI, as a strategy to get more women behind the camera in big budget films. ”Moviement” was a part of the action plan to reach equity behind the camera, a strategy that became ”50/50by2020 which was released by SFI in Cannes 2016. That inspired the big festival movement for equality with the same name.
Anna is now starting an organisation called ”The Swedish Center for Investigative Journalism” to support a diversity of investigative reports to ensure an open democratic society.
Dame Heather Rabbatts
Chair, Time’s Up UK
Dame Heather Rabbatts’ career spans law, government, media and sport. She is currently Chair of Saatchi PLC, Associated British Foods PLC (where she is also Senior Independent Director) and Soho Theatre and until recently was MD of film & TV production company Cove Pictures where she produced The Drifters and The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu. In 2018, Heather became Chair of TIME’S UP UK and in 2019 joined TIME’S UP global board. Born out of the revelations of #MeToo, TIME’S UP advocates to end sexual harassment, change representation and pay parity to achieve long-term cultural change. She was previously Chair of CIISA, the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, currently in development. Heather began her career as a lawyer, then a government advisor and was the youngest CEO of a Local Authority. She was the first woman and person of colour on the board of the English FA in 150 years, served on the boards of the BBC, Bank of England, the Foreign Office and the Royal Opera House and commissioned award-winning content as a senior executive at Channel 4 Television.
Debbie Ging
Professor, Digital Media and Gender, DCU & Director, DCU Institute for Research on Genders and Sexualities
Debbie Ging is Professor of Digital Media and Gender in the School of Communications at Dublin City University and Director of the DCU Institute for Research on Genders and Sexualities. She teaches and researches on gender, sexuality and digital media, with a focus on digital hate, online anti-feminist men’s rights politics, the incel subculture and radicalisation of boys and men into male supremacist ideologies. Debbie’s research also addresses youth experiences of gender-based and sexual abuse online and educational interventions to tackle these issues.
Guneet Monga Kapoor
Academy Award-Winning Producer CEO, Sikyha Entertainment
Guneet Monga Kapoor is an acclaimed Indian film producer, a two-time Academy Award winner, and the first to bring home an Academy Award for an Indian production with The Elephant Whisperers (2023). She also served as Executive Producer for the 2019 Oscar-winning documentary short Period. End of Sentence. A BAFTA nominee, Guneet is among the first Indian producers invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Guneet is the founder of Sikhya Entertainment, a Mumbai-based production house. She has produced close to 40 feature films, including ground-breaking cinema such as Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), The Lunchbox (2013), Monsoon Shootout (2013), and Masaan (2015) all of which received critical acclaim at prestigious international festivals such as Cannes, TIFF, and Sundance.
Guneet is a recipient of the prestigious French Honour “Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”. In 2019, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded her the prestigious Sloan Science and Film grant. Guneet is passionate about issues of representation and diversity in the film industry and discovering, amplifying & distributing the work of Indian women filmmakers across the globe.
Her recent projects include groundbreaking actioner – KILL, which earned a spot among IMDb India’s top 10 films of 2024 and achieved mainstream international distribution in a first of it’s kind deal with International Studio Lionsgate. Other successes include the sci-fi thriller web series Gyaarah Gyaarah (ranked No. 4 by IMDb India), Gutar Gu on Amazon MX Player, a first-of-its-kind Netflix documentary film on globally celebrated Hip Hop Artist – Yo Yo Honey Singh, and the 2025 Oscar-shortlisted live-action short film Anuja.
Iris Zappe-Heller
Deputy Director, Austrian Film Institute
Iris Zappe-Heller joined the Austrian Film Institute in 1993.
She took over the Austrian representation at the Board of Eurimages from 1997 to 2021.
In 2011 she became deputy to the Director of the Film Institute.
In 2013 she installed the department for Gender*Diversity*Inclusion within the Film Institute, taking a package of measures as Gender Incentive, Gender Budgeting, Gender Reports, ProPro, Script competition… In this function she represents Austria in Eurimages’ Gender Equality Working Group that she has chaired from 2016 to 2021. She joined the EFAD’s Gender Inclusion Working Group in 2018, where she took over the chair in 2021. In 2015 she has been the Austrian expert of the Sarajevo Conference Declaration and therefore actively involved in the drawing up of the European Council’s Recommendation on Gender Equality. Since 2024 she is member of the board of European Women’s Audiovisiual network, EWA.
In 2023 she was appointed Deputy Director of the Film Institute and is member of the board of Filmarchiv Austria since.
Liselott Forsman
CEO, Nordisk Film & TV Fond
Liselott Forsman is the CEO of Nordisk Film & TV Fond since 2019. As Yle’s International Drama Executive and EBU’s Head of Fiction Group, her focus was on international collaboration and media strategies. When Head of Fiction at Swedish Yle, she commissioned and co-produced feature films, drama series and content for young audiences. Her MA combines film, drama, and media studies. Liselott has been a speaker at forums on five continents, lectured at European master educations, produced drama and documentaries, and written for TV, radio and stage. She co-founded and headed the international event Helsinki Script.
Get your ticket today and we’ll see you in Limerick!