Nadja Radojevic to become the new director of the ifs international filmschool cologne

The ifs international filmschool cologne is getting a new director. As of 1 May, 2020, Nadja Radojevic, a renowned industry expert, will succeed Simone Stewens, who is retiring at the end of April after 18 years of successful management.

Nadja Radojevic, until now CEO and Director Training at the Erich Pommer Institut in Potsdam, is looking forward to the new challenge: ‚The ifs is today one of the leading film schools in Germany with an excellent reputation and outstanding importance for further education and training in the film and media region of North Rhine-Westphalia. I am looking forward to continuing the development of the ifs and its activities and thus making a contribution to the sustainable strengthening of the region and its creatives‘.

Petra Müller, chairwoman of the ifs shareholders' meeting and CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW: ‚We are looking forward to working with Nadja Radojevic. Her job will be to lead the ifs into the next decade while paying attention to the needs of NRW as a media region and the challenges in the media industry. She will continue the successful work of Simone Stewens whom I would like to thank for her many years of fruitful commitment!‘

Nathanael Liminski, State Secretary and Head of the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, also welcomes the appointment of the future director: ‚Nadja Radojevic enjoys an excellent reputation in the industry. Her expertise in the film and television sector and her international network will be an enrichment for the media digital region of North Rhine-Westphalia. I am convinced that Ms. Radojevic will take innovative steps to drive the continued development of the ifs‘.

Nadja Radojevic, 40, studied Cultural Management with a focus on film and media. She began her career at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York and the Script Forum of the Master School Drehbuch in Berlin. Nadja Radojevic has been working at the Erich Pommer Institut in Potsdam in various positions since 2005 – and as CEO and Director Training since 2015.

Simone Stewens had held the position of Director of the ifs for 18 years. It was during this period that the ifs was established and expanded from its beginnings as the ‚Schreibschule‘ into one of the most important film schools in Germany. Stewens was appointed as Director of the ifs in 2002. In 2016, Rainer Weiland joined her as Co-Director. Weiland will remain at the ifs' disposal for a transitional period following Stewens' departure before he moves on to pastures new.

The ifs internationale filmschule köln gGmbH is a training and further education institution for film and media professionals in Cologne. On the initiative of the state government and the Filmstiftung NRW, it emerged at the beginning of 2000 from the previous models of the Schreibschule Köln e.V. and the Filmschule NRW e.V.. The ifs is a subsidiary of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and is now one of the most important film schools in Germany.