Katrina Sedgwick leaves Adelaide Film Festival
Festival director/CEO Katrina Sedgwick will step down from her position at BigPond Adelaide Film Festival at the end of 2011.
Sedgwick began as founding director of the festival in 2002 as well as managed and curated the Festival’s Investment Fund investing in 47 Australian films to premiere at the festival.
Sedgwick as also introduced the International Jury Prize, linked film to art with the Art and Moviing Image program and this year created The Hive, bringing together filmmakers and artists of other films such as theatre, dance, visual art music and writing which led to the $600,000 Hive production with partners the ABC TV and the Australia Council for the Arts which will see outcomes at the 2013 festival.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann said in a statement “Our vision was for a film festival that would commission, as well as screen films. When Bob Ellis and I met Katrina, who had done such a good job with the Fringe Festival, we knew instantly she would give our Film Festival the edge and innovation it needed. She took a courageous and visionary approach to her work which ensured it became noticed on the world stage very quickly.”
Her passion for the arts beyond film will see Sedgwick look for new opportunities in the arts as well as in film.
“It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to have been able to develop and deliver my own fairly idiosyncratic version of a film festival over the past decade. The festival’s investment fund has been quite extraordinary, allowing us to support and work closely with some of the finest filmmakers and artists in this country and it’s been so great to see so much of the work go on to significant success in Australia and around the world. Adelaide is a very special place to present a festival, and the support of my colleagues – staff and Board of the festival, the government and sponsors, the program partners, the industry and most of all the film makers – has been sensational. I’ll miss so many aspects of this role – but after five festivals I’m ready for new challenges.”
“Katrina has done an outstanding job and we wish her every best wish with her future endeavours. She has an even more stellar career ahead of her,” said Mike Rann.
The Festival Director role will be advertised soon with the appointment for early 2012 in time for the 2013 festival from 10- 20 October – permanent date change for the festival.
