The European cinema trade group International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) today launched the fourth edition of its Women’s Cinema Leadership Program, a twelve-month mentoring program for women in cinema exhibition.
Following the success of the first three editions, this year’s program will provide nine talented female cinema professionals with an exclusive opportunity to receive one-to-one career advice and networking opportunities, and to learn from an outstanding group of women executives from across the cinema landscape, each recognized for their leadership and business success.
The program remains UNIC’s flagship initiative to address the need to encourage and empower female professionals in order for the industry to realise its full potential. The fourth edition welcomes the following key female leaders and rising female professionals from the cinema exhibition landscape, representing 18 companies across 14 territories:
Mentors
Nathalie Cieutat (Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont, France), Anne Fitzgerald (Cineplex, Canada), Norma Garcia-Muro (THX, USA), Kate Gerova (Curzon, UK), Jadranka Islamovic (Blitz-CineStar, Croatia), Grainne Peat (Event Cinema Association, UK), Kaisa Rakemaa (Finnkino, Finland), Géke Roelink (Filmhuis Den Haag, Netherlands), Bettina Schmit (Kitag Cinemas, Switzerland).
Mentees
Clarissa Bergh (Lillehammer Cinema, Norway), Rachel Bland (VUE Entertainment, UK), Monika Giełżecka (Multikino, Poland), Johanna Herfter (Comscore, Germany), Valeria Kurohtina (Cinamon, Estonia), Madelene Lorentzsson (Svenska Bio, Sweden), Laura Mancilla (Searchlight Pictures International, UK), Anna Paprocka (Odeon Cinemas Group, UK), Olivia Taylor (IMAX, Ireland).
Welcoming this latest edition of the program, UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte said, “We are delighted to welcome a new, fantastic group of mentors and mentees for this year’s edition and to see our inspiring community of women leaders grow year by year. While the past few months have been incredibly challenging, the level of interest that we have received serves to highlight just how important empowerment programmes like ours are, even more so during times of uncertainty.
“We are proud of what we have achieved so far with the UNIC Women's Cinema Leadership Program,” Houlgatte continued. “We have been working with outstanding professionals and it’s been fantastic to see so many of them recognised for their achievements. We’re also delighted to have in Grainne Peat, for the first time, a pioneering mentee becoming a mentor herself in the new edition. This is one of the main objectives of the program – for the mentees of today to become the mentors of tomorrow.
“The discussion around equal opportunities and greater diversity in the industry must continue, and we at UNIC will keep doing our part.”
The International Union of Cinemas http://www.unic-cinemas.org