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Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director and NYFF Selection Committee Head, Richard Peña to Step Down Next Year

Posted Sunday, October 16th, 2011 - Comments Off on Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director and NYFF Selection Committee Head, Richard Peña to Step Down Next Year
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NEW YORK, October 16, 2011 — The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced
this evening that FSLC’s longtime Program Director and Head of the NYFF Selection
Committee, Richard Peña, will step down from those posts at the conclusion of next
year’s 50th New York Film Festival, and his 25th year with the Film Society. At that
time, Peña will continue his involvement and has agreed to stay on to help design and
organize a new educational initiative at the Film Society.

Dan Stern, President of FSLC’s Board of Directors made the announcement prior to the
Closing Night Gala screening of THE DESCENDANTS, saying, “For the past 24 years
Richard Peña has served as the Chairman of the Selection Committee for the Festival
as well as the Program Director of the Film Society. Richard has informed the Board that
at the end of 2012—after the Festival’s 50th anniversary, and his 25th at its helm—he will
step down from both posts. Richard has been with the Film Society through the opening
of the Walter Reade Theater as well as the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and we are
pleased that he has accepted our invitation to stay on to help create a new educational
initiative at the Film Society.”

Regarding the timing of the move, Peña said, “Heading into the fiftieth anniversary of
the Festival, it seems a perfect time for a transition, both for me personally and for the
organization. Working at the Film Society has been beyond a “dream come true,” but in
the years left me I would like to possibly explore other areas of interest, both within and
beyond the cinema. I also feel that, like at any other cultural institution, change can be
important, as it will bring in fresh ideas and approaches to lead the Film Society into its
next fifty years.”

FSLC’s Executive Director, Rose Kuo said, “Richard Pena has been a shining light for
more than two decades at the Film Society, guiding us in the discovery of artists like
Pedro Almodovar, Mike Leigh, Lars Von Trier, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Hong Sang Soo
and many more. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with Richard and I am
delighted that he will continue with us as he transitions to a new period in his career and
life.”

Peña has been the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the
Director of the New York Film Festival since 1988. At the Film Society, he has organized
retrospectives of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sacha Guitry, Abbas Kiarostami, Robert

Aldrich, Roberto Gavaldon, Ritwik Ghatak, Kira Muratova, Youssef Chahine, Yasujiro
Ozu, Carlos Saura and Amitabh Bachchan, as well as major film series devoted to
African, Israeli, Cuban, Polish, Hungarian, Arab, Korean, Swedish, Taiwanese and
Argentine cinema. In addition, he is a Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University,
where he specializes in film theory and international cinema, and from 2006-2009 was a
Visiting Professor in Spanish at Princeton University. He is also currently the co-host of
WNET/Channel 13’s weekly Reel 13.

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director,
the Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in international, classic and cutting-
edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global
attention: the New York Film Festival, currently planning its 49th edition, and New Directors/
New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA.
The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three
decades has given an annual award—now named “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure
in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin
Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of
programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter
Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The 49th Annual New York Film Festival is made possible by the generous support of Royal
Bank of Canada, 42 Below Vodka, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois,
illy caffè, HBO FILMS, WABC-7, Dolby, Kodak, WNET New York Public Media, the National
Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information,
visit www.filmlinc.com

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