UNIC Launches Fifth Annual Women’s Cinema Leadership Program

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Wed, 06/30/2021 - 12:32 -- Nick Dager

The International Union of Cinemas, the European cinema trade grouping, has launched the fifth edition of its Women’s Cinema Leadership Program, a 12-month mentoring program for women in cinema exhibition.

The International Union of Cinemas, the European cinema trade grouping, has launched the fifth edition of its Women’s Cinema Leadership Program, a 12-month mentoring program for women in cinema exhibition.Following the success of the previous four editions, this year’s program will provide 11 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 recognised for their leadership and business success.

The program remains UNIC’s flagship initiative to help address the current gender imbalance at senior levels of the industry and works to encourage and empower female professionals in order for the industry to realize its full potential. Its 2021/22 edition welcomes the following key female leaders and rising female professionals from the cinema exhibition landscape, representing 19 countries and 22 companies:

Mentors

Greta Bisetto-Donelan, Global Director of Content Distribution, Geberation Media

Nuria Bronfman, Executive Director, Movie Theatre Association of Canada

Seneit Debese, Founder & CEO, Greta & Starks

Kassandra Dommisse-Reebergen, Country Manager Operations, Kinepolis The

Netherlands

Daniela Elstner, Executive Director, UniFrance Film International

Yit-Ching Lee, Vice President EMEA, Paramount Pictures

Hannele Marjavaara, Cinema Manager, Kino Tapiola, Espoo, Finland

Funmilayo Marian Onuma, Country Manager, Silverbird Cinemas, Ghana

Zvjezdana Pavić, Director of Finance and Accounting, Blitz-CineStar

Bettina Schmidt, Head of Operations Cinema, blue Entertainment, Switzerland

Inés Trementino, Operations Director, Cinépolis Argentina

Mentees

Nevena Brašanac, Booking & Exhibition Manager, Cineplexx International, Serbia

Nisha Denton, Head of Screen Content, CinemaxX, Germany

Patricia Edeline F. Antunes, COO and Booking Manager, Sociedad Cinematográfica de Centros Comerciales, SA, Spain

UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte.Elisabetta Hoch, General Manager, UCI Cinemas Bicocca Milan, Italy 

Natalia Mackiewicz, Cinema Programmer, Kinokawiarnia Stacja Falenica, Poland

Chloe Monteiro, Account Manager, EMEA, Movio

Boglárka Nagy, General Delegate, International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas

Charlotte F. Neumann, Senior Film Booking Manager, Odeon Kino Norway

Ogbonna Nkemakolam Chizoma, Business & Operations Manager, Filmhouse Cinema, Nigeria

Becky Tobin, Regional Manager, Curzon, UK

Julia Vinokurova, Operations Management Consultant EMEAR, RealD 

"It’s incredibly rewarding to see how our inspiring community has grown – we’ve come a long way since 2017, when the program was first launched,” said UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte. “We owe the success of the scheme to our wonderful mentors and mentees, who have been our champions since the very beginning. We know that more initiatives are needed to achieve more diversity and inclusivity in the industry – and we hope that we are doing our part. This year, we received a record number of applications, and the selection process was a challenge! We are thrilled to welcome a fantastic group of mentors and mentees for the fifth edition - the biggest to date. We are honoured that the programme is expanding into new territories and bringing more diverse profiles to our community. We also want to thank the graduating cohort for their dedication, ambition, and hard work in what has been a very challenging year. We can’t wait to see everyone again – in person and not on Zoom! I would like to wish an empowering journey to the new cohort!"

Union Internationale des Cinémas | International Union of Cinemas | UNIC http://www.unic-cinemas.org