Leena Pasanen proposed as new festival director of DOK Leipzig
Leena Pasanen proposed as new festival director of DOK Leipzig
City Council to confirm appointment on 15 October
Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung is proposing the Finnish documentary expert Leena Pasanen (49) to become the next director of DOK Leipzig. The City Council will decide on the appointment on 15 October. A selection committee composed of industry professionals chose Pasanen from 33 candidates. Her years of experience and excellent international network were among the deciding factors.
Leena Pasanen currently directs the Finnagora cultural institute at the Finnish Embassy in Budapest. Previously, she held various management positions at the Finnish television broadcaster YLE. Pasanen was responsible for documentaries on YLE 1, then led the cultural and documentary programming division of the digital special-interest channel YLE Teema and later worked as a programme coordinator. She also spent three years as director of the European Documentary Network in Copenhagen.
“I am delighted that Leena Pasanen has been nominated as my successor. She is widely respected internationally, a profound connoisseur of documentary film and a very experienced cultural manager”, says outgoing festival director Claas Danielsen.
If the City Council signs off, Leena Pasanen will succeed Claas Danielsen on 1 January 2015. She will begin a five-year contract as festival director of DOK Leipzig also serving as managing director of the municipal Leipziger Dok-Filmwochen GmbH.
Claas Danielsen has led the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film since 2004. During his tenure, he modernised DOK Leipzig and made it one of the leading international documentary festivals and major industry gatherings.
DOK Leipzig wishes to thank:
DOK Partner: MaXxPrint GmbH DOK Supporters: BIG Cinema GmbH, EU-OSHA – Europäische Agentur für Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz am Arbeitsplatz, Telepool GmbH, TDF Technischer Filmdienst GmbH, nextbike GmbH, modulbox mo systeme GmbH, ils medientechnik GmbH, IQ Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH, Leipziger Messe GmbH, PROMENADEN Hauptbahnhof Leipzig, Sky Deutschland AG, ver.di FilmUnion DOK IT Partner: Computer Leipzig DOK Cinema Partner: CineStar DOK Media Partner: MDR, Der Freitag DOK Cooperation Partners: DEFA-Stiftung, Doc Alliance, Documentary Campus, DOK.Incubator, Goethe Institut, MDR Figaro, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Polnisches Institut Berlin, Filiale Leipzig, Stiftung Friedliche Revolution, Tribeca Film Institute, Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig Cooperation Partner DOK Nachwuchs: Sächsische Landesanstalt für privaten Rundfunk und neue Medien DOK Funds: City of Leipzig, Sächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Federal Foreign Office, Federal Agency for Civic Education, German Films, Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen, Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig, ZDF
