Rose Kuo Steps Down as Executive Director of Film Society of Lincoln Center

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that Rose Kuo is stepping down as Executive Director. Lesli Klainberg, currently Managing Director of the Film Society, has been named Interim Executive Director. Kuo will consult with the Board through the first quarter of 2014, to assist with a smooth transition.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to steward the Film Society through an amazing period of transformation and growth into new frontiers," said Rose Kuo. "After the successful opening of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, the milestone celebrations of the 50th New York Film Festival and Film Comment magazine, the 40th Chaplin Award Tribute and New Directors/New Films, and this year's installation of a new creative team, the organization is now in a perfect place for me to make my own transition. Leading the Film Society has been one of the most interesting, rewarding and enjoyable experiences I have ever had and it has opened many new and exciting opportunities."

Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Board Chairman said, "Rose came on board with an expertise that was invaluable to this organization, and during a time when we needed this leadership the most. She has guided us through an incredible growth period, and we are thrilled to have been able to work so closely with her these last three and a half years."

"The organization has accomplished a tremendous amount under the stewardship of Rose, and for that we are thankful. She leaves us with an exceptionally strong team, and in a position to now continue strengthening our relationships within the film community, build the profile of the organization overall and further solidify our theaters as important cultural destinations." said Dan Stern, the Film Society of Lincoln Center Board President.

Lesli Klainberg has been Managing Director of the Film Society for almost two years and produced the last three New York Film Festivals. Over the past two decades, Lesli has been at the helm of a non-profit organization and is an award-winning producer and director of independent documentaries through her production company, Orchard Films. Her film credits include the 1997 acclaimed independent film, PAUL MONETTE: THE BRINK OF SUMMER'S END, the 2011 SXSW Audience Award winner BEWARE OF MR. BAKER, the 2013 PGA Award nominated A PLACE AT THE TABLE, as well as documentaries for IFC, AMC, PBS and A&E.

In 2008, Klainberg was named the Executive Director of NewFest, New York's LGBT Film Festival and also worked as a Consulting Producer for the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and as the Producer of IFP's Independent Film Week Forum. In 2009, she was named Co-Leader of the organization's weeklong Documentary Finishing Lab, and held this post for three years. Klainberg is a Founding National Board member of GLAAD and a former Board member of both Outfest and NewFest.

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of the moving image. Film Society produces the renowned New York Film Festival, a curated selection of the year's most significant new film work, and presents or collaborates on other annual New York City festivals including Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, LatinBeat, New Directors/New Films, NewFest, New York African Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema and Rendez-vous With French Cinema. In addition to publishing the award-winning Film Comment magazine, Film Society recognizes an artist's unique achievement in film with the prestigious "Chaplin Award." The Film Society's state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a home for year round programs and the New York City film community.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, Jaeger-LeCoultre, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stonehenge Partners, Stella Artois, illy café, the Kobal Collection, Trump International Hotel and Tower, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com and follow @filmlinc on Twitter.