AMSTERDAM.- As from February 1, 2025, Maral Mohsenin joins the management of Eye Filmmuseum. She takes over from Giovanna Fossati, who is leaving Eye after nearly thirty years.
As Director of Collection & Knowledge Sharing, Mohsenin will be responsible, alongside Managing Director Bregtje van der Haak and Business Deputy Director Wietse Potiek, for the development and implementation of policy and the day-to-day running of the entire organization. Additionally, she will hold ultimate responsibility for the preservation and management of the collections, acquisitions, conservation and restoration, academic activities, education, and international positioning of Eye’s heritage activities and collection.
Maral Mohsenin (Tehran, 1988) has a wide-ranging background in film, with experience in film heritage restoration and conservation, as well as in film programming. She served as Head of Programs for the Geneva International Film Festival from 2022. Previously, she worked as a film restorer and curator for the Cinémathèque Suisse in Lausanne, among others. Since 2022, she has also lectured in Film at the University of Lausanne. Mohsenin earned her PhD in film studies in 2022, focusing on the preservation of digital images in film archives (The Archives Must Go On: An Archaeology of Digital Image Technologies within European National Film Archives, University of Amsterdam/University of Lausanne). She holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran and a master’s in Computer & Mathematics in Human Sciences from the University of Lausanne.
Bregtje van der Haak, Director of Eye Filmmuseum: “We are extremely pleased that Maral Mohsenin is willing to bring her exceptional expertise, networks, and warm personality to the executive team at Eye, to help us continue working on the future of the Filmmuseum. Maral’s social commitment, her passion for film education and innovation, combined with her unique blend of talent, experience and specific knowledge in both technological and content areas, make her the ideal person to contribute to Eye during its next phase, when its unique heritage collection, film programming, exhibitions, Eye Film Player and educational programs can become even more interconnected and strengthened.”
Maral Mohsenin: “Joining the team at Eye Filmmuseum, an institution that I have admired for so long, will enable me to contribute to its progress and prosperity. Eye Filmmuseum, as I have come to know it, is one of the most forward-thinking and pioneering film archives in the world. Throughout its history, it has always looked towards the future and taken risks to push the boundaries. Eye collaborates widely with universities and other film archives on an international level, and as I have witnessed, provides a most favourable ground to innovate, to preserve and to present its collections. Furthermore, its links with the audio-visual field are strong through SEE NL, and through the networked activities dedicated to further film education and training for young film professionals.”
Departure of Giovanna Fossati
Mohsenin’s arrival marks the departure of current Director of Collection & Knowledge Sharing, Giovanna Fossati. As from January 1, 2025, Fossati will take up a (newly created) full-time post as Professor of Media Heritage, Technology, and Culture at Utrecht University.
Bregtje van der Haak: "Giovanna has worked for almost thirty years with warmth, passion, dedication, and precision to make Eye what it is today: a unique institution for film heritage playing a leading role internationally, embedded within a network of collaborations, and of great significance in the training of a new generation of film heritage specialists. Giovanna is an international figurehead and inspirational pioneer in the field of film heritage in the digital age. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude for her recent exceptional contribution to the mission and further development of Eye.”
Fossati has worked in various roles at the Filmmuseum since 1997. In 2009, she was appointed Chief Curator, with responsibility for Eye’s collection policy and academic activities, such as the Eye International Conference. In the same year, she published her groundbreaking book From Grain to Pixel: The Archival Life of Film in Transition, a key work on the impact of digital technology on the preservation, restoration, and accessibility of film heritage. From 2013, she held the position of Special Professor of Film Heritage and Digital Film Culture at the University of Amsterdam. She was also involved in the establishment of the master’s programme Preservation & Presentation of the Moving Image, a joint programme between UvA and Eye.
