2022 General assembly and new board
EWA Network hosted its general assembly during Series Mania in Lille at the end of March. Together with our active board we confirmed our previous activities and made a commitment to new programs and annual strategy for EWA Network.
You can check EWA Network’s new mission statement and commitment to gender equality work in the European audiovisual sector on our website to where we will also upload our activity report from 2021:
We were also very pleased to welcome two new board members who are presented below.
Marit van den Elshout
Marit van den Elshout studied Theatre – Film and Television at the University of Utrecht
Since March 2022, Marit left International Film Festival Rotterdam where, as part of IFFR's management team, she headed the IFFR Pro department of International Film Festival Rotterdam which includes all film industry related initiatives of the festival, including its co-production market, CineMart and the Hubert Bals Fund.
Among other things she is now working as Head of Studies for the New Producers Academy, a new initiative in the Netherlands with the aim to develop a more diverse and inclusive producer landscape in The Netherlands. Furthermore she is establishing herself as a freelance consultant, strategist and moderator for festivals, markets and production companies.
Marit acted on several selection committees, including for the Rotterdam Media Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund (the feature film and co-productions committees) and the Dutch Cultural Media Fund. She is an EAVE 2009 graduate, has served on several juries for project markets and is a member of the European Film Academy. She worked as industry liaison for the Melbourne International Film Festival and has worked, among others, as advisor and international liaison on the establishment and development of Durban FilmMart.
Maria Ekerhovd
Maria Ekerhovd is a Norwegian film producer from Bergen. One of Ekerhovd’s first films as producer, Bobbie Peers’ 2006 short film Sniffer, won Norway’s first (and so far only) Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, also nominated for the European Film Awards. In 2011, she founded the production company Mer Film, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. In these ten years, Ekerhovd has been the delegate producer on ten feature films, as well as a large number of co-productions. In 2013, Ekerhovd was awarded the Edith Carlmar Prize, which is presented every year at the Femmina Film Festival to "a professional film woman who has shown integrity, fearlessness of innovation and willingness to break boundaries. Her latest film is THE INNOCENTS by Eskil Vogt, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film received the European Film Award for Best Sound in 2021 announced last week.
Maria Ekerhovd is also the Norwegian co-producer on Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s FLEE, EFA-nominated for best documentary and animated feature this year. She is currently in production with the historical drama WARSAILOR by Gunnar Vikene (which is to date, Norway’s largest film production) and LET THE RIVER FLOW by Ole Giæver. This year will also see the release of the co-production MORE THAN EVER by Emily Atef.
Her production company Mer Film’s ambition is to produce Norwegian and international art-house films by directors with a personal artistic vision. Mer Film belives in long term releationships with directors and co – producing partners and in 2015 the company expanded its mission by founding Mer Filmdistribusjon, a distribution company which works closely with the production company.
In 2021 Maria Ekerhovd received the The EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION AWARD at the European Film Awards.