Irish academic Susan Liddy has been elected as the new president of Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI), replacing Swedish producer Helene Granqvist who has been in the role since 2018.
Founded in 1997, WIFTI has led the way in advocating for better representation and conditions for women working in the screen industries. The umbrella body encompasses 50 WIFT and WIFT partner chapters worldwide.
Liddy is a lecturer at the Department of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Limerick. She is also on the board of the Irish Film Institute, the Writers Guild of Ireland and Raising Films Ireland, the body set up to help parents and carers working in the screen sectors.
Her research papers have included Women in the Irish Film Industry: Stories and Storytellers (2020); Women in the International Film Industry: Policy, Practice and Power; (2020) and Media Work, Mothers and Motherhood: Negotiating the International Audio-Visual Industry (2021).
She has also co-authored two industry reports for the Broadcasting Authority Of Ireland and Raising Films Ireland, with fellow academic Fergal Rhatigan. They are also currently researching the working culture in the Irish Screen industries for a WFT research project, funded by Screen Ireland.
Her collection Women, Ageing and the Screen Industries: ‘Falling Off a Cliff’? will be published in February 2023.
Liddy is also the founder and director of the Catalyst International Film Festival, in Limerick, a festival that prioritises films from underrepresented groups, in front of and behind the camera.
She has led WFT Ireland as Chair since 2018.
Liddy and Granqvist will work together as co-presidents for the coming months, with the former taking the helm alone in August 2023.
“I’m looking forward to sharing the leadership of WIFTI with Dr. Liddy during the transition period. Susan is a researcher and I am a practitioner but we are both activists who work strategically for change. I couldn’t wish for someone better to take over the leadership for WIFTI!,” said Granqvist.
Liddy praised Granqvist’s work over the past four years.
“I salute Helen Granqvist who has worked tirelessly to build a global organisation that is united in a vision of female empowerment and advancement. Our goal remains firm: to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in the screen industries everywhere.”
The WFTI Board said in praise of Granqvist: “Since her election as President of WIFTI in 2018, Helene Granqvist has positioned WFTI as a global influencer. During her tenure, the organisation spread across six continents and has a diverse Board drawn from all the chapters and affiliate organisations”.
The WFTI board is currently made up of Sarah Inya Lawal (Africa), Ajoke Silva (Nigeria), Rubaiyat Hossain (Bangladesh), Tsiako Abezadze (Caucasus); Susan Brinton (Vancouver), Brigitte Monneau (Montreal), Nicole Ackermann (Germany); Patricia Watson (New Zealand); Katrina Graham (Australia), Nerissa Scott) (New England), Serena Mmifinyana (Botswana), Marjaana Mykkänen (Finland), Domizia De Rosa, (Italy), Katerina Kaskanioti (Greece); Osnat Bukofzer (Israel), Nadean Rawlins (Jamaica), Susana Campos (Brazil), Cynthia Lopez (New York) and Kirsten Schaffer (Los Angeles).