EFP announces its new Board of Directors Martin Schweighofer elected as new EFP President

Martin Schweighofer, Executive Director of the AFC - Austrian Films Com, has been elected as European Film Promotion's (EFP) new President. As the Board of Directors confirmed at its meeting during the Cannes Film Festival today, Martin Schweighofer will take over the presidency from Christian Juhl Lemche (Danish Film Institute) who had held this position for the past four years.

Pia Lundberg from the Swedish Film Institute has been elected as Vice President. As new members to its Board of Directors, EFP also welcomes Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik from the Polish Film Institute and Nerina T. Kocjančič from the Slovenian Film Centre.

EFP Board of Directors with Renate Rose (EFP Managing Director). From left to right: Mariette Rissenbeek (German Films), Renate Rose (EFP), Martin Schweighofer (Austrian Films Com), Pia Lundberg (Swedish Film Institute), Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik (Polish Film Institute), Nerina T. Kocjančič (Slovenian Film Centre), Françoise Lentz (Film Fund Luxembourg), Christian J. Lemche, (Danish Film Institute)
© EFP/ Kurt Krieger

The members of the Board of Directors are:

Martin Schweighofer, Executive Director, Austrian Films Com - EFP President
Pia Lundberg, Head of International Department, Swedish Film Institute - EFP Vice President
Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik, Head of International Relations, Polish Film Institute
Nerina T. Kocjančič, Head of Promotion and Sales, Slovenian Film Centre
Christian Juhl Lemche, Festival Consultant, Danish Film Institute
Françoise Lentz, Head of Promotion, Film Fund Luxembourg
Mariette Rissenbeek, Managing Director, German Films

Martin Schweighofer was a film and theatre critic and arts editor for Austrian periodicals before taking over his current post as Executive Director of the AFC - Austrian Films Com, the official agency for strategic support and promotion of Austrian cinema abroad. He has been on the selection boards of various film subsidy agencies and is a lecturer at Vienna's University of Applied Sciences. He is a founding member of EFP and has been serving on its Board of Directors since 2011.

“I would like to thank the EFP members and the Board of Directors for electing me President of European Film Promotion”, Martin Schweighofer says. “Working with the representatives of 36 countries and our Hamburg based headquarters in the interest of European cinema will be a privilege as much as it will be a challenge to find a right balance between developing new ideas and refreshing long-running signature projects. I believe we all can be proud of what our pan-European network has been able to accomplish throughout the years. But we will not rest to try to make things even better!”

The number of participating countries in the EFP network has meanwhile increased from 10 to 36 countries from all over Europe. Renate Rose has been the managing director since EFP was established in 1997. EFP is financially supported by the Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union, its member organisations, and public and private sponsors.