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UEL media graduate makes guest appearance on Film 2008

Thursday 28 February 2008

A University of East London (UEL) graduate has hit the media spotlight after recently appearing on Film 2008 and BBC London radio to discuss her film distribution company’s successful promotion of new Polish films in the UK.

Anna Godas, of Aldgate East, graduated from UEL in 2002 with a first-class combined honours degree in Media Studies and French. She now works as Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Dogwoof Pictures, which specialises in the distribution of independent films and is pioneering online distribution across Europe.

Dogwoof’s first film was the Italian drama Don’t Move, starring Penélope Cruz. Recent successes include the documentaries Black Gold and A Crude Awakening, as well as Esma’s Secret (Grbavica), a Bosnian film which won the Golden Bear Award at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.

On Film 2008, Anna talked about Dogwoof’s successful venture into distributing Polish-language films to meet the viewing desires of London’s growing Polish community.

Anna, originally from Barcelona, said: “Film 2008 regularly features our films, so we've developed a great releationship with the team. As an independent distributor, we constantly have to explore new markets and think outside of the box. We’re currently the only film distribution company in the UK catering for the Polish community, so we’ve got a really interesting story to tell about the relationship between immigration and distribution.

“I've worked for Dogwoof Pictures since its set-up in 2004, after meeting my business partner at Cannes. Running an independent film distribution company has been a very exciting and demanding challenge. I’ve used so many of the skills that I learnt on my degree, as well as discovering a real aptitude for business that I’d never have guessed that I had. These days, I think I actually prefer marketing films to watching them!

“Studying at UEL was a fantastic experience; it’s such a diverse and interesting university, with a great reputation for media. I started in 1999, the year the Docklands campus opened, so everything was really new and exciting. The lecturers were keen and supportive, the atmosphere was great, and my degree involved a perfect balance of theory and practice. I’m extremely proud to have studied at UEL and am still great friends with many of the people I met."

Dogwoof Pictures distributes Polish films at targeted cinemas across London, including the Rio in Dalston, the Genesis in Mile End and Surrey Quays Cineworld. For further information, visit www.dogwoof.com or www.thepolishconnection.co.uk.

UEL’s School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies is 5-rated for research in media, communications, and cultural studies, placing UEL in the top seven universities in the UK. For further information, visit www.uel.ac.uk/ssmcs.

For details and pictures contact Daniel Cherry: 020 8223 2194

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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