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.”