The meeting was introduced by Laura Houlgatte Abbott, UNIC CEO, and Laure Galtier Buettner, UNIC Head of Events & Projects, and featured Monica Chadha, Senior Advisor, Creative Industries, who also joined the session as this year’s inspirational speaker. Drawing on her own leadership journey, and in conversation with Laura, Monica shared her reflections and practical advice for women pursuing leadership roles in the industry. Her inspiring intervention was followed by an engaging Q&A session.
Following this exchange, Monica went on to moderate the session. She invited participants from the 9th edition to share their mentoring experiences and best practices with the new cohort, offering valuable insights on what makes a successful mentoring relationship. Some new mentors and mentees also reflected on their objectives in the year to come.
As always, the session was very empowering – and far too short! It marked the official launch of the 10th anniversary edition of the UNIC Women’s Cinema Leadership Programme, with the new intake often meeting for the first time before beginning their mentoring journey.
UNIC also organised networking drinks on the same evening, providing a valuable networking opportunity for participants from the previous and the new editions of the programme. The event brought together over 40 women from across the cinema sector.
We look forward to the next in-person meeting of the group, which will take place during the UNIC Cinema Days on 5 November in Brussels. Until then, mentors and mentees of the tenth edition will work on their mentoring goals, participate in online individual and group meetings, and UNIC will continue to support them throughout their mentoring journey.
You can find more information about our programme and its participants here.