After her pre-film life as a sign painter, flight attendant and graphic designer, Panian worked as a TV editor for Endemol in Cologne and as a freelance editor and director for Swiss television. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the ZHAW in 2010, followed by a Master in directing Feature Film in 2015.

 

Her debut documentary DYING TO LIVE - a film about the transformative power of death - won the Audience Award at the Zurich Film Festival in 2014 and was released in cinemas in 2015. Alongside the film, the book ZU ENDE DENKEN was published by Wörterseh-Verlag.

 

For her first feature film LOVERS (2019) she shot the main storyline within 24 hours with 2 cameras, a crew of 6 people, no conventional script and mostly improvised dialog.

 

At the end of 2023, she launched the playful-collaborative talk show format COMMON SENSE OF 12, which is about finding solutions instead of just debating and fighting and where everyone can have their say.

This format was developed based on research for the feature film LOTTERY. The film was realized within three days of rehearsals and three days of shooting, with two cameras, 12 actors, and a crew of 11 people. 

 

Since 2017, Rebecca has been actively campaigning for a fairer and more sustainable reality. Specifically, as an activist for an unconditional basic income (UBI) as a human right. In 2018, she launched the project VILLAGE TESTS FUTURE to test the UBI in a Swiss village. This inspired the idea for the documentary film IMAGINE that she is currently developing.

 

Panian's work is characterized by collaborative creative processes, improvisational elements, and a clear connection between artistic form and social relevance.