On October 8, the Board members of the European Film Agency Directors association unanimously re-elected Luis Chaby Vaz as EFAD President and Edith Sepp as Vice-President of the association with a 3 year mandate.

President:
Luis Chaby Vaz,
President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual of Portugal

Vice-President:
Edith Sepp,
CEO of the Estonian Film Institute

"I am thrilled to continue helping EFAD to accomplish its mission: promoting European audiovisual creation in all its diversity. In constant dialogue with the industry and governments, EFAD has a strategic role to play to surpass these difficult times we are experiencing”, declared Luis Chaby Vaz.

“I would like to contribute to a stronger union between EFAD members bringing the voices of small, young and less competitive countries closer to prominent, mature and very competitive ones. Europe’s very diverse storytelling skills are one of its great strengths and we can act together to increase the audience desire for European audiovisual works across the world. I am also convinced of the need for more innovation, film education and diversity in the sector”, said Edith Sepp.

Short biographies of the President and Vice-President

Luís Chaby Vaz is since June 2017, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual of Portugal. He began his professional activity in 1993 as a lawyer before entering the cultural sector where he held several public management positions. He also worked in the Advertising industry and in the movie post production sector as CEO of Tobis. He was the Cultural Counselor of the Portuguese Embassy in Spain between 2010 and 2013. After that, he worked in a venture capital firm and as a private consultant.

Edith Sepp has been the CEO of the Estonian Film Institute since 2013. She started her film career in the early 1990s as an assistant director. After graduating with an MA in film and TV drama from the Northern Media School in UK, she worked in the film/TV industry as a film director and producer. In 2010, she became a film adviser to the Estonian Minister of Culture and lead the creation of the Estonian Film Institute’s 2013-2020 strategy. She has been a member of EFAD board since 2014 and she has chaired the EFAD Think-Tank since 2015.

Night Riders heading to Lumière Festival! We are thrilled to announce that digitally restored Slovak classic Night Riders, from the collections of the National Film Archive of the Slovak Film Institute, will be world premiered at the 11th Lumière Festival in Lyon (10 – 18 October 2020).

Nearly 40 events, participants from 34 countries, meetings with the most decision-making people in the industry, a chance to work in the American LAIKA studio or a course at the Aardman Academy. The guests include Mike Cooper, Andy Gent, Magda Bieszczak or Melanie Coombs - creators known for their work on the films: "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Rabbit", "Miss Peregrine's Peculiar House", "The Isle of Dogs", "Harvie Krumpet" or "Mary and Max". Łódź will become a world center of stop motion animation for five days starting 6th October.

At this year's festival, as part of the project PIONEERING WOMEN IN FILM, the Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF), in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Latvia, the Swedish Institute and the Swedish Film Institute, will pay special attention to the works and significance of female directors in the history of film.