EFM Distributor Award Winner Huub Roelvink © Seth Carnill

The inaugural EFM Distributor Award is being presented to a European distributor whose commitment to arthouse distribution has impressed a three-member jury composed of renowned industry professionals.

The European Film Market is very pleased to announce the winner of the first EFM Distributor Award: Huub Roelvink from Cherry Pickers Film Distribution (The Netherlands). The award, endowed with a cash prize of €7,500 is sponsored by Fintage House and will be presented during the Kick-Off event on February 12, 2025.

Tanja Meissner, director of Berlinale Pro*: “I wanted to introduce an award within the EFM to recognise the crucial societal and cultural value of the work of European Arthouse Distributors which is often undervalued. While awards mostly go to filmmakers and producers, films only truly exist once they’re distributed and reach their intended audiences. We often discuss the importance of fostering cultural exchange by upholding diversity and showing different perspectives, and cinema has a really powerful role to play in that. Arthouse Distributors contribute not only culturally, but also economically and politically by reinforcing the foundation of European democracy.”

Vaucia Pahlad, COO of Fintage House: “At Fintage House, we know the magic of making a great film, and as industry professionals, we recognise the immense effort it takes to get that film to the screen. Distributors quietly champion this effort, sifting through countless productions to deliver the right stories to the right audiences. By sponsoring the Distributor Award, we celebrate the hard work, resilience, and vision that go into bridging the gap between filmmakers and audiences globally.“

Jury

The three-member jury is composed of renowned industry representatives Leila Hamid (CEO X-Verleih AG), Nathalie Jeung (Head of Sales Kinology) and Kim Foss (CEO Camera Film), who emphasise: “We wouldn’t have cultural diversity without distributors, and this recognition goes out to a whole sector of the film business. So we are rewarding one distributor, but there are many others that are more than worthy.”

Jury Statement

Huub Roelvink from Cherry Pickers Film Distribution in the Netherlands might be working in one of the most thriving territories of them all, but that also means harsh competition for content – with steeper prices than in many other territories.
In his approach to curation, Huub demonstrates a careful balance of passion and pragmatism. He evaluates films based on their artistic merit and their potential to engage viewers, understanding that successful distribution requires both quality content and audience appeal.Huub embodies the spirit of innovation and dedication that this award honours. His tireless efforts to elevate international cinema in the Netherlands make him a true ambassador for the art of film. We are proud to celebrate his achievements in film distribution. Congrats!

About the Winner Huub Roelvink, Cherry Pickers Film Distribution

Huub Roelvink is the owner and managing director of Cherry Pickers Filmdistributie, a Benelux distribution company releasing approximately 12 to 15 titles per year. Recent titles include My Favourite Cake, No Other Land, Hard Truths and September Says, among many others.
Before founding the company in 2016, Huub was managing director of Imagine Filmdistributie Netherlands and founder of Cinema Delicatessen, a distributor specialised in documentaries. He also has extensive experience in cinema programming and exploitation, starting his career as a student in the Kriterion cinema in Amsterdam, and subsequently programming various arthouses and being managing director of arthouse LUX in Nijmegen. Huub holds a Master’s in Social Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam.

About Fintage House

With its head office based in the Netherlands, Fintage House is an independent global music, film and TV rights company cofounded by Robbert Aarts and Niels Teves more than 30 years ago. The company has, over the years, developed a unique breadth of business services ranging from digital rights management, collection account management for film & TV production to custom-made services for the music and audio-visual industry. Fintage House has worked with some of the most influential and iconic artists of our time as well as small, independent rights holders as part of their diverse client base. Today, the company’s influence in the media space reaches nearly all of the major film and television markets across the world and is expanding further into additional rights and media outlets. As a leader in the global media business, Fintage House provides strategic value by identifying, protecting, and facilitating additional revenue streams for rights holders and clients in the broader global media landscape. For more information, visit https://fintagehouse.com/.

Information on the Jury

Kim Foss, CEO at Camera Film
Started his career in the music business, running and curating independent film clubs and working as a freelance journalist. He was hired to program the newly established NatFilm Festival in 1993 and stayed with the event for 13 years, turning it into the largest film festival in Denmark, simultaneously serving as critic and film journalist for the daily newspapers Det Fri Aktuelt and Jyllands-Posten. He co-founded the sister festival CPH:DOX in 2003. In 2006 he was hired as the CEO and Managing Director of the arthouse cinema Grand Teatret in Copenhagen as well as the company’s distribution arm, Camera Film. In 2006 he received an honorary Bodil Award from the Danish Film Critics Association. In 2010 he was named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. Co-president of Europa Distribution.

Leila Hamid, CEO at X-Verleih AG
Leila Hamid, born in Stuttgart, began her professional career in 2006 in marketing at X Verleih AG. In 2015, she became self-employed, invested in the newly founded Port au Prince Pictures GmbH, and laid the foundation for a young distribution company in Germany as Managing Director. In June 2019, she returned to X Verleih AG as CEO. The company’s portfolio includes Lola rennt and Good Bye, Lenin!, the Oscar-nominated film Das Weiße Band as well as audience favourites such as Oh Boy and Cloud Atlas.

Nathalie Jeung, Head of Sales at Kinology
Graduated from La Sorbonne in French literature and cinema, Nathalie Jeung started her career as a sales agent at Le Pacte back in 2008, after meaningful experiences at Rezo Films and Unifrance. Twelve engaging years later as a senior sales manager at Le Pacte, she joined Kinology’s great team in 2022 as head of international sales. She was also a member of the short film selection committee at the Cannes Film Festival from 2016 to 2018.

The European Film Market is part of Berlinale Pro*, which unites the European Film Market, the Berlinale Co-Production Market, Berlinale Talents and the World Cinema Fund. Berlinale Pro* is the festival’s full-circle industry infrastructure that serves the global film industry as incubator, enhancer and supporter in all stages of film development, production, sales and distribution.