UNIC Launches Fourth Edition of Women’s Cinema Leadership Programme

UNIC has toady announced the fourth edition of their Women’s Cinema Leadership Programme, designed to foster the careers of up-and-coming female cinema professionals by pairing them with experienced mentors in the industry. Mentees will receive career advice and one-on-one mentorship opportunities over a period of 12 months. 

Something of a milestone has been reached this year for the Programme, as one of its former mentees—Grainne Peat of the U.K.’s Event Cinema Association—has now adopted the role of mentor.

Mentors for the 2020/2021 edition of UNIC’s Women’s Cinema Leadership Programme are:

  • 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, meanwhile, hail from Norway (Clarissa Bergh of Lillehammer Cinema), the UK (Rachel Bland of Vue Entertainment, Laura Mancilla of Searchlight Pictures International, Anna Paprocka of Odeon Cinemas Group), Poland (Monika Giełżecka of Multikino), Germany (Johanna Herfter of Comscore), Estonia (Valeria Kurohtina of Cinamon), Sweden (Madelene Lorentzsson of Svenska Bio), and Ireland (Olivia Taylor of Imax).

Said UNIC Ceo Laura Houlgatte in a statement:

“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 Programme.

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 programme – 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. 

I would like to wish an empowering journey to our new cohort!”

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