Ira Deutchman
Ira Deutchman has been making, marketing and distributing films since 1975, having worked on over 150 films including some of the most successful independent films of all time. He was one of the founders of Cinecom and later created Fine Line Features—two companies that were created from scratch and, in their respective times, helped define the independent film business. He was also a co-founder of Emerging Pictures, the first digital projection network in the United States and a pioneer in delivering live cultural events into movie theaters.
Currently Deutchman is an independent producer and a consultant in marketing and distribution of independent films. He is also Emeritus Professor in the School of the Arts at Columbia University, where he was the Chair of the Film Program from 2011-2015.
His current projects include serving as producer of Nickel & Dimed, based on the book by Barbara Ehrenreich and directed by Debra Granik (in pre-production); director/producer of the feature documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff (currently available on the Criterion Channel and on various pay-per-view platforms); producer of the stage adaptation of Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street (recently opened on Washington DC); and executive producer of the mini-series based on the novel Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford (in development).
In 2017, Deutchman was awarded the Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sundance Art House Convergence for his service to independent film marketing and distribution.
Adeline Monzier
Adeline Monzier, a Harlem resident, is currently a guest programmer at Metrograph downtown and the founder of the Harlem film series Uptown Flicks. She also organizes the year-round student screenings at Film at Lincoln Center and collaborates with Rosalie Varda and Ciné-Tamaris on an educational project centered around Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I. From 2013 to 2024, she served as the U.S. representative of Unifrance, promoting French cinema abroad, and oversaw the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival in partnership with Film at Lincoln Center.
After earning a Masters degree in Culture and Media Management from Sciences Po Paris and a Master’s in Contemporary German Studies from the Ecole Normale Supérieure d’Ulm, Monzier joined DIRE, a French syndicate of independent distributors, in 2005. She founded Europa Distribution in 2007, a network of 130 independent distributors from 26 European countries, which she managed until 2013.
Monzier also launched and ran the filmmakers’ program “US-in-Progress” from 2011 to 2016, connecting American independent films at rough-cut stages with European buyers and post-production funds. As a producer, through her company Black Rabbit Film, she produced her first short film, L’Héritage by Michaël Terraz, which was selected by 40 international festivals and won 10 awards. She has also been a script reader for French companies like Mars Distribution and the CNC. In 2018-19, she collaborated with Serge Toubiana on his book about Helen Scott, L’Amie américaine.