Following our widely circulated open call, we’re excited to announce film curator, writer, and audience development professional Aashna Thakkar (she/her) as our new Head of Audience Engagement.
In addition, the Board of Directors are thrilled to welcome three new Trustees: film programmer and producer Rebecca del Tufo; creative producer, exec producer, consultant and diversity advocate Tolu Stedford; and producer Yaw Basoah.
Stepping into a newly created full time management role that encompasses curation and communications, Aashna Thakkar (she/her) brings her experience in programming and marketing to the position of Head of Audience Engagement.
Originally from Toronto, Aashna was Manager of Programming for Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto’s longest running free community film festival, and Lead Programmer Breakthrough’s Women & Non-binary led Film Festival. Prior to that, Aashna worked in marketing at Toronto Ward Museum, and held outreach and education positions at Hot Docs, the largest documentary film festival in North America. Since moving to London, she has worked with Into Film on their UK-wide festival.
Aashna’s speaking, jurying and writing engagements have included Winnipeg Film Group, aluCine Latin Film + Media Arts Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival and Documentary Campus, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Future of Film Showcase, Hot Docs, Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, and she is a member of the Programmers of Colour Collective.
As an audience-focused and community-minded professional, Aashna’s seven-year career to date demonstrates a commitment to promoting equity in the film industry and platforming stories of marginalized identities.
Rebecca del Tufo, Tolu Stedford and Yaw Basoah announced as new Trustees
As of this month, the charity also welcomes three new Trustees:
Rebecca del Tufo (she/her) is a film producer, programmer and freelancer, whose work covers exhibition, distribution and production. Rebecca co-founded and co-runs ScreenCraft Works, a not-for-profit which supports under-represented production and post-production talent worldwide with cross-border mentoring, talks and networking, and is a trustee of Refugees at Home.
Tolu Stedford (she/her) is co-founder of Story Compound, a creative film, TV and immersive media production company and consultancy with an emphasis on stories of the Global Majority that resonate globally. She is British Screen Forum’s Future Leader and member of the ScreenSkills Film Council.
Yaw Basoah (he/him) established Dark Pictures to produce bold, distinctive, and uncompromising work that explores the dark side of human nature, working across film, television, and the visual arts, with emerging, established, and world-renowned writers, filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists, predominantly from underrepresented backgrounds.
A fond farewell
Sadly, next month the team bid goodbye to long-standing team members Jo Taylor Hitchinson (freelance Campaigns Lead, who joined in 2018) and Cristina Garcia (Operations Manager since 2019), and to Rōgan Graham (Programme Producer for the past year). The work of all three has been critical to the continued development and impact of our audience building work at Reclaim The Frame, and our recent Girls on Film ‘Activist Impact Award’ is just one example in testament to that. All three will forever be part of the Reclaim The Frame community.
Starting in April, Aashna will be working closely with the Reclaim The Frame team, information on whom can be found here.
While our new Trustees join our five Board directors: producer Fozia O’Dowd, distributor Sophie Doherty, publicist Sophie Glover, barrister Stephanie Hayward, and curator/evaluator Tara Brown.
#ReclaimTheFrame with us
The Board of Trustees are currently recruiting for a Chair of the Board of Trustees – details of which can be found here.
To become an Advocate for the charity’s mission in building audiences for marginalized gender led films, join the #ReclaimTheFrame mailing list here.
The charity’s exhibition work is funded by BFI’s Audience Fund. Information on Reclaim The Frame’s partners and network of 20+ cinemas in 16 cities across the UK can be found here.