Malika Rabahallah is to succeed Albert Wiederspiel as the festival director of Filmfest Hamburg.
The 52-year-old Franco German executive, who is head of the funding department at Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein’s regional film fund MOIN (Moving Images North), will take over on January 1, 2024.
Her appointment was unanimously agreed by the supervisory board of the MOIN film fund, Filmfest’s parent company.
It followed the recommendation of a selection committee which included the heads of the European Film Academy and European Film Promotion, Matthijs Wouter Knol and Sonja Heinen.
Wiederspiel, who will step down at the end of 2023 after heading up the festival since 2003, welcomed the choice of Rabahallah as his successor
“Malika Rabahallah is an inspiring personality with excellent contacts all over the world. Her energy is catching and I am sure that she will continue to develop Filmfest Hamburg with fresh ideas for the Hamburg audience and the film industry,” Wiederspiel said in an official statement.
In a first statement following her appointment, Rabahallah said that it was “a great honour” for her to follow in Wiederspiel’s footsteps and “be able to further evolve this festival with my own ideas.”
She indicated how she would like to position Filmfest Hamburg in the German and international festival landscape in the future, suggesting that the event “should be a meeting point for the industry and an audience festival with international appeal that celebrates the diversity and creativity of the local, national and international film industry.”
“Above all, I also see the festival as a place for cultural and social exchange. Personally, the topics of diversity and sustainability are very close to my heart, Rabahallah explained. “I also want the festival to reflect on new challenges such as disruptive technological changes.”
Hamburg’s Senator for Culture and Media Dr. Carsten Brosda, who had chaired the selection committee, added: “With Malika Rabahallah we are able to win a proven film expert for the festival management of Filmfest Hamburg. She not only knows her way around Hamburg’s film landscape, but has also been an established figure in both the German and international industry for many years. Her infectious passion for film and her distinctive hospitality will captivate audiences and guests.”
The 31st edition of Filmfest Hamburg - the last under Albert Wiederspiel’s direction - will be held this year from September 28 to October 7.
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