Alesia Weston Takes Executive Director Role at the Jerusalem Film Center

Getty Images

Sundance Institute alum Alesia Weston has taken on the role of executive director at the Jerusalem Film Center, a position she begins June 15. The new job involves a relocation to Israel just in time for the Jerusalem International Film Festival, which runs July 5-14.

"Alesia brings a wealth of international as well as Israeli and particularly Jerusalem experience to this new and challenging endeavor," said David Harman, speaking for the JFC board. "Her extensive background with Sundance, the most influential force in independent filmmaking in the world, and her inspired and irrepressible enthusiasm for JFC will provide fresh leadership that can maximize the impact of our recent facility upgrades."

Weston will oversee all cultural and educational operations, including the film festival, for the JFC, which is known locally as "The Cinematheque." The organization also houses a film archive.

During her nine years at Sundance, Weston worked to expand the Institute's feature film program internationally by discovering promising filmmakers from around the world and bringing them to the screenwriting and directing labs at Sundance, Utah. She also helped to build infrastructure in regions around the world such as Jordan, Tel Aviv, Istanbul and India to support filmmakers locally.

"Since 2003, she has made an extraordinary contribution to the Sundance Institute and under her leadership, the Institute expanded the work of the Feature Film Program to Labs in the Middle East, India, Israel and Turkey," said Sundance Institute feature film program founding director Michelle Satter. "She initiated and developed several international partnerships, and identified and supported some of the most exciting international filmmakers, including the writer/directors of Red Road, Sweet Mud, Paradise Now, Lake Tahoe, My Brother the Devil, Amreeka and Porfirio, among so many others."

Originally from London, Weston also has worked for Imagine Entertainment, Trigger Street Productions and the American Film Institute.