Film Festival Alliance (FFA), the consortium that represents over 300 film festivals from across the world, has appointed a new executive director, Mallory Martin, who was most recently the artistic director for the Cleveland International Film Festival, IndieWire can reveal exclusively.
Martin was selected among a pool of 250 applicants, and she succeeds Barbara Twist in the rolewho exited Film Festival Alliance as of January 9 after being elevated to the role in 2022. Gray Rodriguez, currently the director of member engagement for the FFA, has been its interim director.
Martin has over 15 years of film festival leadership experience and sector advocacy, and she’s also the co-founder of rePRO Film, a film organization that focuses on reproductive justice and rights. She served as artistic director for the Cleveland International Film Festival between 2020 to 2025, helping the organization’s pandemic recovery, overseeing a transition in the festival’s venue, securing sponsorships, grants, and donations, and building out a programming slate of around 300 screenings annually. Martin also worked as the director of programming and projection at the Cleveland film festival before being elevated into the Artistic Director role.
“Mallory Martin is a leader who embodies the spirit and purpose of Film Festival Alliance. She is deeply respected across the festival community, understands both the artistic and operational realities our members face, and shares FFA’s belief that collaboration and advocacy are essential to the future of independent exhibition. We are confident she will be a unifying and strategic leader for our membership and for the field. We are thrilled to welcome her as FFA’s next Executive Director,” said Karen Cardarelli, Board President for the Film Festival Alliance.
“I am truly honored and energized to step into the role of Executive Director of Film Festival Alliance at such a transformative time for our field. Festivals are at the heart of the independent film ecosystem, and together, we can ensure they thrive in this dynamic landscape. My vision is to ensure every member festival, no matter its size, knows that FFA is indispensable to their success: a home base for advocacy, education, and meaningful connection. I’m excited to listen, to engage directly with our membership, and to build on the strong foundation already in place so that together we can amplify our collective voice and strengthen the field we all care so much about. Film festivals bring us together through story; Film Festival Alliance brings together the people who make that possible, and I am honored to lead this community,” Martin said in a statement.
Martin’s organization rePROwhich she co-founded in 2020, supports films and filmmakers that celebrate bodily autonomy. It began as a virtual film festival and in 2022 launched a newsletter called The Periodical that curates a short film, a podcast interview, news, and more.
Martin has participated in juries and panels at events including the Independent Film Exhibition Conference, The Gotham Week, New Orleans Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, Heartland International Film Festival, and more, and was named to The Cleveland 500’s Leadership in Action list in 2024.
Martin will officially join Film Festival Alliance as executive director on March 9, 2026.
Film Festival Alliance along with Art House Convergence annually puts on its Film Exhibition Conference, which IndieWire helped announce the launch of back in 2023. The event takes place in Chicago between June 22-25 and is a conference that gives exhibitors the resources they need to effectively platform independent film.