TIFF taps producer Joana Vicente as new executive director

TIFF announced the appointment on Tuesday, just a week before the start of this year's edition of the annual film event.

Vicente officially begins Nov. 1, reporting directly to the TIFF board alongside the festival's artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey.

"Cameron's artistic vision is inspiring and I look forward to working with him and with the passionate team at TIFF to expand the organization," Vicente said in a statement.

Bailey hailed Vicente as an ideal partner.

"Joana thinks big and thinks globally," he said.

"She complements strategic thinking with strong relationships built over years in the not-for-profit sector, and as a film producer. Her combined expertise as a leader, a manager, and a creator will be an invaluable asset to TIFF."

Vicente comes on board as TIFF restructuresits leadership to replace outgoing director and CEO Piers Handling.

Born in Macao, Vicente studied in Lisbon and started her career in media, with early roles as a press attachat the European Union and a radio news producer at the United Nations. She later moved to film, ultimately producingmore than 40 movies with filmmakers such as Alex Gibney (Oscar-nomineeEnron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), Jim Jarmusch(Coffee and Cigarettes), Nicole Holofcener(Lovely and Amazing)and Brian De Palma(Redacted).

Vicentefounded three production companies, including the high-definition production studio HDnet films with tech billionaires Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner.

Since 2009, Vicente has served as executive director of the New York-based, not-for-profit group Independent Filmmaker Project, the largest and oldest collective of indie filmmakers in the U.S.

Vicente will attend this year's edition of TIFF, which runs Sept. 6-16, and continue to oversee the Independent Filmmaker Project's annual Gotham Awards in New York this November.