Corinna Harfouch

Acting

Corinna Harfouch

Born 1954-10-16 · Suhl, Germany

Corinna Harfouch (born 16 October 1954) is a German actress. Widely regarded as one of the most important performers in German film and theatre, she is known for her portrayals of complex, often emotionally layered characters across more than four decades on stage and screen. Among her most beloved and unexpected performances is her turn as Rabia in Bibi Blocksberg, in which her scene-stealing energy has since been embraced by audiences as camp and iconic, earning her a cult following and status as an unlikely queer icon. For this performance, she received the German Film Award (Lola) for Best Supporting Actress in 2003. Trained at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” in Berlin, Harfouch began her career in theatre before transitioning to film and television, where she has appeared in over 80 productions. Her early breakthrough came with Die Schauspielerin (1988), followed by roles in films such as Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997), Der Untergang (2004), Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders (2006), Finsterworld (2013), and Lara (2019). She has also been part of the long-running crime series Tatort since 2023. Among her numerous accolades, Harfouch has received the Bavarian Film Award, the Adolf Grimme Award, the German Television Award, and the German Film Award. She won Best Actress at the Shanghai International Film Festival for Frei nach Plan (2007) and received the German Film Award for Best Actress in 2024 for Sterben. In addition to her screen work, Harfouch is an acclaimed stage actress, performing at major theatres including the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Berliner Ensemble, and the Volksbühne. In 1997, she was named Actress of the Year by Theater heute and awarded the Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring for her performance in Des Teufels General. Born in Suhl, East Germany, Harfouch initially trained as a nurse before studying acting. She has three children, including actor Robert Gwisdek.

Acting credits

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer poster
7.4

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born in the stench of 18th century Paris, develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world's finest perfumes. However, his work takes a dark turn as he tries to preserve scents in the search for the ultimate perfume.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

2006

23 000 Lives poster
6.0

A group of young people sets sail for the Mediterranean to save the lives of refugees — a mission that puts their ideas of law and justice to the test.

23 000 Lives

2026

Downfall poster
7.9

In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

Downfall

2004

Dying poster
7.8

Mother Lissy, father Gerd, son Tom and daughter Ellen: the members of the Lunies family are estranged. But confronted with death, they finally meet each other again.

Dying

2024

Knockin' on Heaven's Door poster
7.7

Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

1997

Bibi Blocksberg poster
6.0

Elation in Neustadt: by the means of a little witching, Bibi Blocksberg saved two kids from burning to death. While her mother Barbara, a witch of flesh and blood herself, is very proud of her daughter, father Bernhard, overworked and stressed, disapproves greatly of her supernatural antics. Then Bibi gets a message from Walpurgia, the senior witch: she is going to receive her crystel ball, that will make a "real" witch of her, early. Proudly, Bibi jumps up her broom to fly to the Blocksberg, the witches' headquarters. But Rabia, one of the few evil witches, aging in misery and with a secret, begrudges her all the glory...and her youth. And so Rabia sets off events that will soon make Bibi's life fall into pieces.

Bibi Blocksberg

2002

Suck Me Shakespeer 3 poster
6.1

A bank robber becomes a teacher after being released from prison and finds himself at the center of a number of crazy adventures.

Suck Me Shakespeer 3

2017

The Elementary Particles poster
6.2

Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, Atomised (aka The Elementary Particles) focuses on Michael and Bruno, two very different half-brothers and their disturbed sexuality. After a chaotic childhood with a hippie mother only caring for her affairs, Michael, a molecular biologist, is more interested in genes than women, while Bruno is obsessed with his sexual desires, but mostly finds his satisfaction with prostitutes. But Bruno's life changes when he gets to know the experienced Christiane. In the meantime, Michael meets Annabelle, the love of his youth, again.

The Elementary Particles

2006

Zwischen uns poster
6.4

Eva is struggling to live happily with her autistic son Felix. The two are inseparable, but Felix's frequent outbursts of anger, the constant problems at school and his fear of strangers are almost impossible for Eva to cope with. One day when Felix accidentally seriously injured Eva, suddenly nothing is the same as it used to be.

Zwischen uns

2022

Bibi Blocksberg and the Secret of Blue Owls poster
6.1

Poor Bibi - due to her bad marks in maths she has to spend the whole summer in the boarding school of Altenberg to scrape through a series of exams - otherwise she'd stay down in school, being forced to repeat the year. No camping, no white-water rafting, no vacation at all. So it doesn't surprise anyone that the young witch is quite disgruntled when arriving at Altenberg Castle. Her roommate is a touchy unpleassant fashion victim and headmaster Quirin Bartels is so muddle-headed that he can't even remember the names of his students properly. But then Bibi makes friends with Elea, a girl wheelchair-bound since a terrible accident where she also lost her beloved parents. Now Bibi is determined to help the sensitive Elea, searching a way to heal her from her palsy legs.

Bibi Blocksberg and the Secret of Blue Owls

2004

In My Mother's Mirror poster
NR

When successful archaeologist Ursula Scheuer makes a sensational discovery of a body during a bog excavation, her demented mother suddenly dies. Unexpectedly, a childhood trauma breaks out for Ursula. The appearance of her new assistant Mel is also puzzling: she seems to know Ursula’s past very well. Ursula is increasingly drawn into a mysterious web of fantasies and deceptions and must finally free herself from it.

In My Mother's Mirror

2026

Berlin Calling poster
6.8

A man tours clubs around the globe with his manager and girlfriend. On the eve of their largest album release he is admitted to a psychiatric clinic after overdosing at a gig.

Berlin Calling

2008

Ingmar Bergman - Herr der Dämonen poster
4.0

He calls them his demons—these fears and neuroses that keep him awake at night in his house on the island of Fårö. Ingmar Bergman is under observation. Swedish theater and film director Ingmar Bergman had a decisive influence on cinema. By the end of his life, he had made over 40 films and directed countless theater productions. He would have turned 100 in 2018. To mark this occasion, Henrike Sandner’s documentary “Ingmar Bergman – Master of Demons” features interviews with the filmmaker’s closest colleagues and friends, including actress Liv Ullmann.

Ingmar Bergman - Herr der Dämonen

2018

Gefährliche Freundin poster
4.0

A thriller directed by Hermine Huntgeburth.

Gefährliche Freundin

1996

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie poster
NR

On the morning of his hundredth birthday, Fanny finds her grandfather dead in his bed. As she and her family are forced to deal with the death, a bitter dispute over the inheritance erupts, in which old power relations are reversed.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

2026

Move poster
6.4

Eleven moving dates, eight friends: Philipp, Wiebke, Jessica, Maria, Swantje, Michael, Thomas, Dina – all in their twenties and mutually lonesome. And always searching: For a new city, a new job, an own apartment, a new, or even an old love. The search is never-ending, and so they repeatedly find themselves at a ritual gathering: someone moving. Boxes are shifted from one side of Berlin to the other, or the length and breadth of Germany, from one abode to the next as one life is exchanged for another. In 3 ZIMMER/KÜCHE/BAD, director Dietrich Brüggemann portrays existences in which relationships, social networks and backdrops are in a constant state of flux; where best friends are the only, and therefore the most valuable constant. Humorous sketches of the self-conception of a generation for whom moving has become the symbol of a life on the go.

Move

2012

Bloodsuckers poster
5.6

1928: Lyovuschka, a Soviet worker, is cast in the role of Trotsky for Eisenstein‘s latest film, but quickly finds his dreams of an actor‘s life shattered when Trotsky falls into Stalin‘s disfavor. Exiled from his homeland, he poses as a wealthy baron and finds himself stuck in a glamorous seaside resort in Germany awaiting a barge that will take him to Hollywood. A summer romance kicks off when he meets the eccentric factory owner Octavia Flambow-Jansen - it's just too bad there are vampires around.

Bloodsuckers

2022

The House on the River poster
7.0

1942. The members of the Voß family, mother, two daughters, a daughter-in-law, and a son-in-law, are living in a house at the river. A fellow soldier of son Paul, who fights at the eastern front, delivers his greetings and an embroidered Russian blouse for Emmi, Paul′s wife. Daughter Agnes, whose husband is also fighting in the war, receives a fur vest from the junior partner who is stalking her. Obviously, the vest is also loot from the eastern front. When the family receives news that Emmi′s husband has been killed in action, the war finally enters the house at the river. Emmi commits suicide while Agnes′s husband returns as a cripple from the war front. At home, he has to learn what a price his wife had to pay for the "Russian fur".

The House on the River

1986

Cracks in the Shell poster
6.0

An insecure drama student is given the lead role in a play by her director, but the role she is supposed to play is at odds with her real personality. The fusion of her stage persona and her real life persona becomes a psychological tour de force for the young woman, changing her private life.

Cracks in the Shell

2012

Yasemin poster
6.3

Yasemin is a 17-year old Turkish girl who lives with her parents in Hamburg-Altona, Germany. While her mother and father accept that Yasemin has her own German friends, they also expect her to honor the traditions of their country of origin. The arrival of Jan, a German student aged 21, throws this situation into conflict.

Yasemin

1988

Moon Man poster
6.7

One night, a shooting star appears, whizzing through outer space towards the moon. Moon Man seizes his chance, grabs the speeding comet by the tail and hitches a ride to earth. This 'attack from outer space' sets the alarm bells ringing in the Presidential Headquarters. While escaping the President and his soldiers, Moon Man sets off on a long journey and marvels at the many wonders the earth has to offer – and he realizes how much children love and need him.

Moon Man

2012

Brennende Themen poster
NR

The media and technology boom of the 1930s triggered a flood of new sexual practices that drove a Catholic priest and a war widow to make what is probably the world's first reconnaissance talk show. Until the acquired knowledge began to allure them irremediably.

Brennende Themen

This Is Love poster
5.0

Set in Vietnam and Germany, This Is Love centers on Chris and the nine-year-old Jenjira on the run from the mafia. Together with his friend Holger, Chris bought the young Vietnamese girl's freedom from human traffickers – without actually being able to pay. Meanwhile, the female detective Maggie learns after 16 years why her husband up and left her without a word. These two worlds come together when Chris is accused of murder and Maggie is charged with interrogating him.....

This Is Love

2009

Finsterworld poster
6.4

The film tells different stories in a kind of parallel Germany about love, affection and hatred.

Finsterworld

2013