Editor

New artistic director for the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film: 

Spearheading ITFS: Annegret Richter joins Heike Mozer 

In June of this year, Heike Mozer took over the commercial management, and now the artistic position of the Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH (FMF) has also been filled: Annegret Richter, an experienced curator and festival organiser who has known and accompanied the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) for years, is taking over.

The shareholders and sponsors are also pleased about the new management team and thus a more stable situation for the festival: "With Annegret Richter, we have gained an extremely experienced person with animation experience as artistic director and I am very pleased that the FMF is now so well positioned in the management," says Michael Kaiser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the FMF and Managing Director of Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH (WRS). 

The city of Stuttgart, the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Ludwigsburg are also happy to have Annegret Richter as artistic director of the festival, who not only has a connection to Stuttgart and the region through her previous programme work at the ITFS, but also has an enormous national and international network from which the festival can benefit.  

Heike Mozer and Annegret Richter would like to lead the ITFS into the future and to re-establish it as an annual highlight in the festival calendar for the German and international animated film industry. "We complement each other in different areas and have a very similar view of things when it comes to fundamental issues. It is important to us to create places for encounters, as well as to connect filmmakers, the industry, and the audience. With Annegret, I now have a creative partner by my side," emphasises Heike Mozer. Together, the managing directors want to further develop the ITFS and intensify the synergies with FMX and the APDs. 

"It is a great opportunity and honour for me to work with Heike Mozer and the FMF team to develop the festival for the future," says the experienced curator Annegret Richter, whose expertise is also highly valued at the ITFS. Her many years of networking in industry and networking projects make her an experienced, interested and passionate advocate for animated film. In her new role, she wants to work to strengthen animation: 

"Animation tells the important stories and issues of our time. In my opinion, animation for adults does not yet receive enough visibility. That's why I think the festival also has a task for society as a whole to bring audiences into contact with the films and the filmmakers. Especially people who perhaps didn't even know that animated film was relevant to them."

Annegret Richter worked as festival director at the short film festival "Filmfest Dresden", was head of the animated film section at DOK Leipzig and has been managing director of AG Animationsfilm since 2016. She also regularly curates film programmes and has been a member of festival juries and selection committees. She is also familiar with current developments and discourses through teaching assignments and her work as a lecturer. 

The ITFS will take place for the first time under the new dual leadership from April 23 to 28, 2024. The shareholders of the FMF are the city of Stuttgart, Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and the city of Ludwigsburg.