Heleen Rouw resigns as director of Cinekid
After five successful years, Heleen Rouw is leaving her post as Director of the Cinekid Foundation.
With her vision and dedication, Heleen made a significant contribution to the growth and innovation of the world's largest children’s film festival. From the joint development with IFFR, IDFA and NFF of an online platform to offer audiences a festival experience at home during the corona pandemic, to the development of the Cinekid’s inflatable cinema that is travelling around the country since this year.
Under Heleen's leadership, Cinekid’s audience reach has grown. Not only does the Festival welcome a wide and diverse audience at its main location in Amsterdam Noord, but national attendance has also increased at the forty theatres that co-host Cinekid Festival each autumn, and there is now an annual satellite location on Curaçao. Over her tenure at Cinekid - the place where children and young people discover high-quality films, series and media – the Festival has been put firmly on the map.
Heleen Rouw looks back on her time at Cinekid with pride:
“The past five years at Cinekid have been great. I have learned a lot; from the talented makers of youth films, series, games and installations, but also and especially from the young audience. Curious, sincere and direct; it is great to see how they inspire the makers while developing their projects, both in our talent development labs but also in the MediaLab. It was an honour to work with a passionate team to help children enjoy the power of visual stories in which they are taken seriously. Cinekid has a bright future ahead of it, thanks in part to the award of multi-year subsidies from the BIS and Amsterdam's Arts Plan. Especially now, it is essential that there is continued space and visibility for all possible forms of youth film. I will now take the next step, but will always carry this mission in my heart.”- Heleen Rouw
Eveline Aendekerk Chairperson Supervisory Board Cinekid:
"The Supervisory Board thanks Heleen for her contribution and passionate commitment over the past five years. Under her leadership, Cinekid twice secured its long-term funding, Cinekid has grown into an even more vibrant platform where children and young people can discover and develop their creativity, and Cinekid has firmly positioned itself as an important player within European children's and youth film."
Heleen will start as programme director Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition (CIIIC) from 1 January. The supervisory board has appointed Nicolien Luttels as interim director and will start the process to recruit the new director in early 2025.