Film Hub Scotland appoints new Manager

Film Hub Scotland is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Hub Manager.

Curator and co-founder of Samizdat Film Festival Ilia Ryzhenko will join the team from early January, following the departure of Nicola Kettlewood in late October.

Ilia has an academic and practical background in film exhibition and curation. He recently completed a PhD in Film/TV Studies at the University of Warwick during which he co-founded and managed Samizdat— Scotland’s first festival dedicated to the cinemas of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. As a curator, Ilia has focused on Central Asian and Balkan cinema and developed a real soft spot for the Kazakh New Wave. Before joining Film Hub Scotland, he also briefly worked in the Fundraising department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

On his appointment, Ilia says, “My own work as a film curator would have been impossible without Film Hub Scotland’s training activities, members’ networks, and funding opportunities. It’s an organisation I’ve always considered exemplary in terms of the perfect balance it strikes between being a supportive funder and giving independent exhibitors the freedom to experiment.

I believe that the most effective, novel, and responsible practices that emerge within any creative industry come as a result of communal knowledge exchange. For that exchange to happen, we need a healthy and sustainable independent film exhibition sector, and I couldn’t be more excited to be joining an organisation dedicated to supporting, embracing, and celebrating it.”

We very much look forward to welcoming Ilia to the team at Film Hub Scotland!