Search

    President and Board Roles and responsibilities

    Board meeting in June 2023

    President

    Agnieszka Holland (photo by Jacek Poremba)

    Having graduated from FAMU in Prague film (1971), Agnieszka Holland returned to Poland and began her film career working with Krzysztof Zanussi as assistant director, and Andrzej Wajda as her mentor. Her first feature film was PROVINCIAL ACTORS (1978), one of the flagship pictures of the “cinema of moral disquiet” and the winner of the International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980. Subsequently, she made the films FEVER (1980) and THE LONELY WOMAN (1981). In 1981, just before the declaration of the state of emergency in Poland, Agnieszka Holland emigrated to France.

    She directed ANGRY HARVEST (1985) which was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar. Her film EUROPA EUROPA (1990) also received a U.S. Academy Award nomination (best screenplay) and IN DARKNESS (2011) was again nominated as best foreign-language film. She also collaborated with her friend Krzysztof Kieslowski on the screenplay of his trilogy, THREE COLOURS (1993).

    Holland’s other films include TO KILL A PRIEST (1988), OLIVIER, OLIVIER (1992), THE SECRET GARDEN (1993), TOTAL ECLIPSE (1995), WASHINGTON SQUARE (1997), THE THIRD MIRACLE (1999), SHOT IN THE HEART (2001), JULIE WALKING HOME (2001), COPYING BEETHOVEN (2006), IN DARKNESS (2011), BURNING BUSH (2013), SPOOR (2017), MR. JONES (2019) and CHARLATAN (2020). She also directed several episodes of many notable TV series, including THE WIRE, JAG, COLD CASE, TREME (for the pilot of the latter she was nominated for an Emmy) and HOUSE OF CARDS.

    Agnieszka Holland has also written or co-written screenplays for films made by other directors and directed plays for Polish television. She was elected chairwoman of the Board of the European Film Academy in 2014 and was elected as its President in 2021.

    Back to Board

    Mike Downey

    Mike Downey, producer, and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME), launched his independent UK production company on the Frankfurt DAX in 2009. Since then, he has produced more than 40 feature films, with producing partner Sam Taylor and company chairman Stephen Daldry.

    F&ME’s catalogue includes UKFC funded WHITE LIGHTNIN’, Saul Metzstein’s GUY X, DEATHWATCH (with Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis), U.S. Academy Award nominated and Venice Golden Lion winning BEFORE THE RAIN and a slew of international co-productions written by Günter Grass, Thomas Keneally, James Ellroy and Clifford (HOAX) Irving. His award-winning South African production SON OF MAN premiered at Sundance, as did WHITE LIGHTNIN’. The film GLANCES opened the Venice Film Festival. Downey’s books The Film Finance Handbooks – A Guide for European Producers are published by the MEDIA Business School.

    Educated in theatre at the University of Warwick, with postgraduate studies at the University of Paris III (Sorbonne) and Paris X (Nanterre), he has long taught at the MEGA European Masters programme. Being a Quondam Thomas Ewing Professor of Film (Ohio University) and a member of the Film Board of Oklahoma University, he is also President of the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia and Artistic Advisor to the Zagreb Film Festival. He works closely with Amnesty International establishing Amnesty Human Rights Awards at several international film festivals and is a consultant for USAID, the American government programme rebuilding infrastructure (film) in the Balkans. Downey has served three terms as member of the Council of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts as well as one term on the BAFTA Film Committee. He is a member of the board of the Berlin Golden Bear winning (U-CARMEN) South African Theatre Company Isango along with Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Simon Rattle. Mike is particularly proud to be a trustee of the White Ribbon Foundation – an international charity which works to eradicate women dying in childbirth in the developing world.

    Mike Downey produced Agnieszka Holland’s CHARLATAN (2020) which was in the Berlinale competition. He joined the EFA Board in 2004, was elected deputy chairman in 2014, and chairman in 2020. In 2021, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Mike Downey as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to European film.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a woman
    Rebecca O'Brien

    Rebecca O’Brien has been an independent film producer for thirty five years. Prior to becoming a producer she worked her way up through the industry in various production roles including location manager on MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (1985) and production manager on some early Channel 4 films.

    She has produced fourteen feature films directed by Ken Loach, including LAND AND FREEDOM (European Film Awards winner, 1995), SWEET SIXTEEN (European Critics’ Award 2002 – Prix FIPRESCI), MY NAME IS JOE (1998) and LOOKING FOR ERIC (2009). In 2006 THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY and in 2016 I, DANIEL BLAKE won the Palme d’Or in Cannes. THE ANGELS’ SHARE (2012) won the Jury Prize at last year’s Cannes. She also produced Ken Loach’s acclaimed archive documentary THE SPIRIT OF ’45 (2013), an essay on the moment, immediately post-war, when Britain elected its first socialist government and introduced the National Health Service, the Welfare State and nationalized key industries.

    She has also produced a number of films by other directors including BEAN (Mel Smith, 1996) and PRINCESA (Henrique Goldman, 2001). Rebecca O’Brien is currently a member of the UK Film Industry Training Board and the British Screen Advisory Council. She runs the production company Sixteen Films with Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty.

    She joined the European Film Academy Board in 2013.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a long-haired woman with glasses
    Ada Solomon (picture by Leila Lyytykainen)

    Born in Romania, Ada Solomon has worked in the film business for the last 20 years. She has served as a line producer for foreign international projects such as Franco Zeffirelli’s CALLAS FOREVER, Didi Danquart’s OFFSET and, more recently, Hermine Huntgeburth’s TOM SAWYER & HUCK FINN.

    Establishing her own company HiFilm in 2004, Ada has produced award-winning shorts by Cristian Nemescu (MARILENA FROM P7) and Radu Jude (THE TUBE WITH A HAT), debut features by Radu Jude (THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD), Razvan Radulescu (FIRST OF ALL, FELICIA), Paul Negoescu (A MONTH IN THAILAND), and documentaries by Alexandru Solomon (KAPITALISM – OUR IMPROVED FORMULA, TARZAN’S TESTICLES), among others. In the past decade, she has been attached to the award-winning Radu Jude films EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY (Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Film, Bayard d’Or for Best Film & Best Actor, Namur), AFERIM! (Silver Bear for Best Director), I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS (Crystal Globe for Best Feature Film, Karlovy Vary) and BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN (Golden Bear Berlinale, 2021).

    The films produced by Ada Solomon were presented and awarded at the most prestigious festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Venice and Sundance — to name just a few.

    Ada Solomon has co-produced with France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary and her films have been released in over 40 territories around the world.

    Apart from her producing job Ada Solomon is also Head of Distribution in Parada Film and manages (together with Tudor Giurgiu) Cityplex, 3 miniplex cinemas in Romania. She is a member of Europa Cinemas, founder and executive director of NexT International Film Festival Bucharest and teaches at the National Film School in Bucharest.

    With CHILD’S POSE by Călin Peter Netzer, Ada Solomon produced the Berlinale FIPRESCI & Golden Bear Winner of 2013.

    Ada Solomon is national co-ordinator of EAVE, ACE graduate, president of the Board of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and the recipient of the European Co-Production Award – Prix EURIMAGES at the 26th European Film Awards in 2013. She was elected onto the European Film Academy Board in 2014 and deputy chairwoman in 2020.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a woman with glasses
    Graziella Bildesheim

    Having a long track record in leading European training programmes for producers and filmmakers all over Europe, Graziella Bildesheim currently works as an international consultant for the Discovery Campus programme at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, she is also the founder and former head of the Maia Workshops (2005-2018), from which more than 400 active producers of over 35 nationalities graduated. Furthermore, she created and directed the HERMES training programme for producers from the Eastern Partnership countries (2009) and the Story Development and Producers’ Workshops for filmmakers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine (2012-2013).

    As an independent producer and consultant, Graziella was involved in the creative development and financial packaging of feature and documentary films in co-production with European and international partners since 1991. With her own Rome-based company Fabulafilm (2003-2011), she also set up and co-produced a number of documentaries and features for theatrical and TV distribution.

    From 2014 to 2016 she served on the National Film Board at the Italian Ministry of Culture where she participated in the selection of projects for features, shorts and documentaries.Graziella currently teaches at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and is a voting member of the David di Donatello Italian Film Academy. She joined the European Film Academy Board in 2018.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a short-haired woman with glasses
    Bettina Brokemper (picture by Martin Menke)

    Bettina Brokemper is producer and owner of Heimatfilm, a Cologne-based feature film production founded in 2003. Thanks to her passion for international co-productions, she managed to develop Heimatfilm into one of the leading independent European production companies. Throughout her career she has produced and co-produced over 50 feature films; which premiered at the most prestigious festivals worldwide and earned more than 100 international awards and prizes. Her films have been released in countries all around the world.

    Bettina’s producer credits — among many others — include DOGVILLE and ANTICHRIST by Lars von Trier, THE SYRIAN BRIDE by Eran Riklis, the 2010 Berlinale Golden Bear winner BAL – HONEY by Semih Kaplanoglu, HANNAH ARENDT by Margarethe von Trotta (German Film Award in Silver) and WILD by Nicolette Krebitz (German Film Award in Bronze).

    Besides her duties as a producer, Bettina Brokemper works as academic lecturer at several film schools. From 2017 to 2019, she was a visiting professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne for film dramaturgy. Jury and committee activities for various film funding institutions and festivals enrich her work. In 2020 Bettina Brokemper was part of the International Jury of the Berlinale.

    In 2006, European Film Promotion nominated Bettina Brokemper as “Producer on the Move” and she was awarded with the ‘Prix Eurimages’ for Outstanding European Co-production in 2008. She is a longtime member of the European Film Academy, “Les rendezvous franco-allemands du cinéma” and of the German Film Academy. She takes part in the EWA Mentoring program and participated in EAVE+. In 2014 the Cologne Culture Council named her „Cultural Manager of the Year 2013“.

    Back to Board

    b&w photo of person under roof window
    Virginie Devesa

    Virginie studied Business Communications and received a Master’s degree in France (Lyon), with two years studying in the USA (University of Washington). She worked abroad in Ukraine for the Molodist Film Festival in Kyiv, in Russia for the French Embassy as an attachée audiovisuel, and travelled for two missions abroad for the economic supplement of the Japan Times.

    Her passion for cinema started at a very young age and while she tried several fields within the industry, she has now been co-managing Alpha Violet world sales for the past ten years.

    Meeting with professionals from festivals, distributors and producers from all around the world in Berlin, Cannes or Venice and all the major festivals, her main motivations are to support producers and filmmakers to gather the best environment for their world premiere to continue their career.

    portrait of person with long dark hair
    Joana Domingues

    A journalist by degree and a producer by heart, Joana is a Portuguese film and TV producer. With more than ten years of experience, she developed and created documentary series for television.

    A few years ago she started producing short films with the Portuguese director Bruno Gascon that have won several awards in national and international film festivals. In 2018 she produced CARGA, Bruno Gascon’s debut feature film.

    In 2019 she was one of the MatchMe! producers representing Portugal at the Locarno Film Festival. At the end of the same year, she produced SOMBRA, a film based on a true story of a missing child and in 2021 she produced EVADIDOS, a feature film that is currently in post-production.

    Joana Domingues is also founder, partner, and producer at Caracol Protagonista. Since 2016 the company has been focused on producing projects that raise awareness to subjects with world-wide relevance and that usually remain in the shadows.

    I’ve been back in Sardinia, my homeland, since ten years: I returned to Europe from Los Angeles in 2012 to create the Sardegna Film Commission Foundation. Now I serve as General Secretary of EUFCN, the network of the European film commissions. For several years, I served as Vice-President of the Italian Film Commission Association (IFC) and Board Member of Cineregio, the network of EU regional funds. I got my philosophy degree and cultural-media studies and visual anthropology PhD in Milan, where I began my career as a filmmaker and producer.

    Until 2012, I was based in Los Angeles, developing and producing narrative features and documentaries. Professor of film producing and directing in various EU universities, I also worked as consultant of international film festivals and as architect of various training initiatives (including Locarno Film Fest Summer School for 20+ years, African Asian Latin American Film Festival, etc). I founded with my husband the Unicef-endorsed NGO TravelingFilmSchool. My focus is on sustainability in the creative industries and animation and audiovisuals for under-represented communities. I love developing new institutions, create unique opportunities within the audiovisual industry, funds and governance entities.

    Back to Board

    Denis Ivanov, Ukraine (b. 1978) is a co-founder of Odesa International Film Festival, Children Kinofest, and Kyiv Critics Week; head of ARTHOUSE TRAFFIC film company; distributor and producer.

    As a producer, he made 8 feature films and over 40 shorts. His film THE TRIBE by Myroslav Slaboshpitsiy won Grand-Prix Of Cannes’ Critics week 2014 and was released in more than 40 countries. DONBAS by Sergei Loznitsa has the Best Director prize of Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2018. His recent works RHINO by Oleh Sentsov (2021) and 107 MOTHERS by Peter Kerekes were premiered in the official selection of Venice IFF.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a man
    Mike Goodridge

    Since 2017, Mike Goodridge has been artistic director of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao in Macao, China, as well as an independent producer at the production company Good Chaos with several projects in various stages of development.

    He was previously a business journalist, film critic and editor of Screen International and spent five years as CEO of Protagonist Pictures working in sales, finance and production across over 80 films including Whit Stillman’s LOVE & FRIENDSHIP, Andrea Arnold’s AMERICAN HONEY, William Oldroyd’s LADY MACBETH, Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE LOBSTER, Yann Demange’s ’71, John Michael McDonagh’s CALVARY, Francis Lee’s GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, Peter Strickland’s THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY and Pawel Pawlikowski’s COLD WAR.

    He is a member of the European Film Academy and BAFTA. He has programmed the international section Kinoscope at the Sarajevo Film Festival since 2012.

    Back to Board

    Nina Hoss started acting in radio plays at the age of seven and appeared on stage for the first time at the age of fourteen. In 1997 she graduated from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. While pursuing an extensive and celebrated theatre career, at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, Berliner Ensemble and Schaubühne Berlin, she developed a close working relationship with the director Christian Petzold with whom she has collaborated on six occasions.

    After having had her first big success with Bernd Eichinger’s A GIRL CALLED ROSEMARY in 1996, Petzold’s and her collaboration began. It won her, amongst others, the German Film Award and the Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actress for YELLA. Also, with the films JERICHOW, BARBARA and PHOENIX she has been invited to several international film festivals such as Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and Telluride.

    Alongside her work with Petzold she has worked with directors such as Anton Corbijn in A MOST WANTED MAN starring Philip Seymour Hoffmann; Volker Schlöndorff in RETURN TO MONTAUK; Henk Handloegten in FENSTER ZUM SOMMER; Ina Weisse in THE AUDITION which won her the Best Actress award in San Sebastian; Katrin Gebbe in PELICAN BLOOD which had its opening in Venice; as well as Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond in LITTLE SISTER which had its opening at the Berlinale 2020 and earned Nina Hoss a nomination at the European Film Awards.

    She has also been a member of the main competition juries at the festivals in Venice, Berlin, Locarno, and the Les Arcs film festival.

    Her more recent TV work includes roles in the Showtime series HOMELAND and in the Bron Studios’ series SHADOWPLAY, directed by Måns Marlind.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a bearded man
    Baltasar Kormakur

    Director, writer and producer Baltasar Kormákur, of Spanish and Icelandic descent, has been able to divide his time between filmmaking in his native Iceland and the US. In Iceland, he made the award-winning films 101 REYKJAVIK, THE DEEP, JAR CITY, THE OATH, as well as the television series TRAPPED.

    He also worked on several successful films in the and the US, where he directed CONTRABAND, 2 GUNS, EVEREST, ADRIFT and in 2021 the Netflix series KATLA.

    His film JAR CITY won the Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary in 2007, and THE DEEP was the Icelandic entry for the best foreign-language Oscar in 2012.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a man with metal-framed glasses
    Christophe Leparc

    Managing Director of the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight) in Cannes and Director of Cinemed — Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier, Christophe Leparc has been working in the film industry since 1990. From the start, he specialised in the organisation and programming of film festivals. Notably, he has worked 10 years for the Créteil International Women Directors’ Films Festival as one of the pre-selectors of films. He began working for the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier in 1994 as pre-selector, member of the selection committee and he also developed retrospectives for the festival.

    Christophe has worked for the International Critics’ Week in Cannes from the year 2000 to 2007 as program manager. Since 2007, he is the Managing Director of the Directors’ Fortnight, the other sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival, and was appointed Director of Cinemed in 2016.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a woman
    Leontine Petit

    Leontine Petit is founder and CEO/Producer of Lemming Film, with offices in Amsterdam and Berlin. Since 1995, Lemming Film has successfully co-produced 54 feature films and 14 high end drama series in Europe and beyond. Their projects are sold to many countries around the world and have won various national and international awards.

    Before working in film production, Leontine studied at the University of Amsterdam where she earned her Master’s degree in Philosophy. She graduated from EAVE and is a member of the ACE Network. She was named “Producer on the Move” by European Film Promotion (2006). In 2014 she participated at EAVE+. She first participated in the Inside Pictures workshop in 2017. Today she teaches at various media programs and until 2020 she was also the President of ‘Bridging the Dragon’, an association that is connecting European and Chinese filmmakers.

    Leontine is a passionate advocate of helping independent films cross boundaries and connect with international audiences. She won the prestigious Eurimages Co-production Award during the European Film Awards in 2016.

    Amongst others, her most recent (co-)productions include PLEASURE by Ninja Thyberg (Sweden, 2020), DO NOT HESITATE by Shariff Korver (Netherlands, 2020), HOME by Franka Potente (Germany, 2020), DEAD AND BEAUTIFUL by David Verbeek (Netherlands, 2020), BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ by Burhan Qurbani (Germany, 2020), THE HEIRS OF THE NIGHT by Diederik van Rooijen (drama series, Netherlands, 2020), MONOS by Alejandro Landes (Colombia, 2019), FENIX by Shariff Korver (drama series, Netherlands, 2018), ZAMA by Lucrecia Martel (Argentina, 2017), MY GIRAFFE by Barbara Bredero (Netherlands, 2017) and THE LOBSTER by Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece, 2015).

    Back to Board

    portrait of a man withou hair, glasses around his neck
    Antonio Saura

    Antonio Saura is a film producer with credits to his name for more than 30 films, including award-winning titles such as THE LAST SUIT — EN LA CIUDAD SIN LÍMITES by Antonio Hernández, RENCOR by Miguel Albaladejo, and SALOMÉ by Carlos Saura. Among his work are also box-office successes like DOS TIPOS DUROS by Juan Martinez Moreno, DI QUE SI by Juan Calvo, more ambitious European co-productions like OCULTO by Antonio Hernández, as well as creative documentaries like FADOS and ARGENTINA by Carlos Saura, or THE CHICKEN, THE FISH AND THE KING CRAB and THE MYSTERY OF GOYA by Lopez Linares.

    As a sales agent, Antonio has been director general of the international sales agency Latido Films since 2015, representing many internationals films like the Argentinian production HEIST OF THE CENTURY, the Spanish-Italian co-production MY HEART GOES BOOM, the Spanish productions ANE, the Sitges winner BABY or the Goya award nominee THE SEA BEYOND. He is proud to have supported the release of the Berlinale Special NUMBERS by Oleg Sentsov.

    Latido has an ongoing relationship with great cinema masters like Campanella, Saura, Ripstein or Zanussi, and has placed a strong bet in new female directors like San Mateo, Echevarria, Laura Mora etc.

    Antonio has done outstanding work in audiovisual training, funding and directing the Media Business School. In the past years, he has been a visiting professor at the Spanish School in Middlebury College, Vermont (USA), and has continued teaching for producers, sponsored either by IMCINE in Mexico or the DGCine in Dominican Republic, the Valladolid University etc. He is the author of several studies about the film industry and has served on the jury in Lima, Valladolid, Seville, Rio de Janeiro, among other festivals.

    He joined the European Film Academy Board in 2008, was elected deputy chairman in 2014, and was re-elected onto the board in 2021.

    Back to Board

    portrait of a white-haired man with mustache
    Katriel Schory

    Having studied at the New York University Film School, Katriel Schory was the founder and managing director of Belfilms Ltd from 1974 to 1999, where he produced over 150 films and TV programmes, including feature films, documentaries, TV dramas, international co-productions, among them BEYOND THE WALLS (1984, Oscar finalist for Best Foreign Language Film).

    From 1999, and for more than 20 years, Katriel has been executive director of the Israel Film Fund where he authorised the support and the promotion of more than 300 full-length narrative feature films, in Israel and world-wide, of which more than 80 films were international co-productions, mainly with Europe. Many of these films won prestigious awards, including four Oscar nominations in the Foreign Film Category of the American Academy, Golden and Silver Lions in Venice, and Bears in Berlin.

    Katriel is a Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres and has received various honorary awards, among them the Berlinale Kamera for Outstanding Contribution to the Film Industry, the Telluride Film Festival’s Special Medallion for Outstanding Achievements, the Variety Award for creative impact on the international film industry and the Jerusalem Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

    He also regularly gives lectures, training & master classes, e.g. at Berlinale Talents, EAVE, ACE, MidPoint, SOFA, Torino Film Lab, Rotterdam Lab, Tel Aviv University, Tisch Film School, VGIK in Moscow, FAMU in Prague, IFS Cologne, La Fémis in Paris and the Film Academy Ludwigsburg.

    Back to Board

    b&w portrait of a man
    Jim Sheridan

    Following a distinguished career in the theatre between the 1960s and the 1980s, Jim Sheridan wrote and directed his first critically acclaimed feature MY LEFT FOOT in 1989. The film was nominated for two European Film Awards.

    He followed this in 1990 with THE FIELD which he also wrote and directed.  In the same year he wrote the screenplay INTO THE WEST which was directed in 1992 by Mike Newell. In 1993 he wrote, produced and directed IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, which again was nominated for a European Film Award, and in 1995 he wrote and produced SOME MOTHER’S SON, which was directed by Terry George. In 1997 he wrote, produced and directed THE BOXER and in 1999 he produced AGNES BROWNE, directed by and starring Anjelica Huston.  He was also executive producer of BORSTAL BOY, ON THE EDGE and BLOODY SUNDAY. IN AMERICA, which he produced, directed and wrote, was released in 2003.  In 2005 he directed and produced GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’. BROTHERS was released in 2009 and DREAM HOUSE in 2011. His most recent feature film is THE SECRET SCRIPTURE. He directed the short film 11th HOUR at the end of 2016 and also the documentary SHELTER ME.

    Jim Sheridan’s films have achieved popular and critical acclaim throughout the world. His films have garnered sixteen Oscar nominations and have won two Academy Awards as well as numerous prestigious international awards. Jim Sheridan lives in Dublin and is married with three children.

    Back to Board

    Mira Staleva

    Mira is a festival and market programmer, producer and distributor. She is the managing director of Sofia International Film Festival, Bulgaria’s biggest film festival, and of Sofia Meetings, a thriving co-production market with a focus on the projects of upcoming directors.

    She also works in consulting, development, production, distribution and exhibition of audiovisual content.

    Mira has co-produced films such as BRIGHTON 4 by Levan Koguashvili, THE KING OF THE BELGIANS and THE BAREFOOT EMPEROR, both by Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens, to name but a few.

    b&w portrait of a woman
    Joanna Szymańska (picture by Geraldine Aresteanu)

    A graduate of Film Studies and Law, Joanna Szymańska is a Polish producer working both in fiction and documentary films. She is a Berlinale Talents 2011 alumna, graduate of the EAVE Producers Workshop (2015) and co-owner of the production company SHIPsBOY.

    Joanna gained her professional experience being involved in the development and production of numerous fiction and documentary projects, including the Oscar-nominated short documentary JOANNA (directed by Aneta Kopacz) and award-winning short fiction MILKY BROTHER (directed by Vahram Mkhitaryan), a film which brought her the Best Producer of Shorts and Documentaries Award at the 54th Krakow Film Festival (2014). As Head of Production at Wajda Studio (2011–2013), Joanna was responsible not only for the company’s production slate, but also for the studio’s international activities such as the European programme EKRAN.

    SHIPsBOY, founded in 2013, is her main professional activity. Joanna represents the company internationally and manages the co-productions produced by SHIPsBOY. Actively involved in her local film industry she is the Head of Industry at Off Camera Film Festival (Kraków) and guest lecturer at film schools in Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź. As an independent documentary consultant she works closely with HBO Europe.

    Back to Board