A major change is taking place at the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum: the current director, Ellen Harrington, is stepping down for personal reasons. The former CEO of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, Michael von Zitzewitz, has been appointed to the board of the association for an initial period of one year, replacing the previous director, Aurélio de Sousa. Christine Kopf, previously head of the film education department at the DFF, will take over as acting director. Her deputy will be Tobias Römer, commercial director of the DFF since the beginning of the year, who will be responsible for personnel and finance as administrative director. This was announced jointly by the Chairwoman of the DFF Board of Directors, Head of the Department of Culture of Frankfurt am Main, Dr. Ina Hartwig, and the DFF.

“After more than six and a half years as Director of the DFF here in Frankfurt am Main, I have made the decision to retire from this position and will now return to our home in Los Angeles. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work for this institution during this dynamic and challenging time for the cultural sector – and for our world at large. However, personal medical and family priorities require that I take some time to refocus my energies. I am pleased that with the support of our Board of Directors, the DFF will continue to have a strong leadership team,” said Ellen Harrington.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank Ellen Harrington for her outstanding work”, emphasized the Chairwoman of the Board, Dr. Ina Hartwig. “She has made a significant contribution to preserving Germany’s film heritage and has also made the DFF internationally visible through archive acquisitions and exhibitions that had an impact far beyond Frankfurt. We wish her all the best for the future.”

Christine Kopf has been involved with the DFF in various capacities since the 1990s. She has been a curator for exhibitions and the festival director for goEast – Festival of Eastern and Central European Film, and has also worked for the ZKM Karlsruhe and the Robert Bosch Stiftung. Most recently, she built up the DFF’s film education department, which she has headed for eleven years. For four years, she was co-head of “Strategic Development” at the DFF.

The DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum e.V. is a non-profit association and is institutionally funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the State of Hesse, the City of Frankfurt am Main, the State Capital of Hesse, Wiesbaden, the public broadcasters and Beta Film GmbH