Reaching New Heights! The Zurich Film Festival enables eight emerging sales and distribution executives to learn from Hollywood's finest.

The fifth edition of the three-day talent promotion program, ZFF Summit Climber, takes place from September 25 to September 28, 2026, in conjunction with the Zurich Summit, the Zurich Film Festival's prestigious boutique conference, at The Dolder Grand hotel.

There are no participation or application fees for the program. Travel expenses to and from the event must be covered by the participants themselves. Members of Europa Distribution will receive partial travel cost support from their respective organisation.

Agar Burgos Henao
Head of Sales / Reel Suspects / France

Agar was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and holds a Bachelor's in Journalism. She worked in various film production roles before serving as General Coordinator at Bolivia Lab. In 2019, she moved to France for a Master's in Film Production and Distribution. She joined Reel Suspects in 2021, growing from Festival Manager and territory sales into broader markets, and since early 2026 has served as Head of Sales. She also completed the EAVE Marketing workshop ([email protected], www.reelsuspects.com).

Asia Stocchi
Acquisitions Manager / Featurette / Netherlands

Asia Stocchi is Acquisitions Manager at Featurette, a boutique film scouting and consulting agency advising independent distributors across Europe, Latin America and Asia on their acquisitions and market strategy ([email protected], www.linkedin.com/in/asiastocchi).

Beril Heral
Acquisitions Executive / Filmarti Film / Turkey

Beril Heral is a film acquisitions executive at Filmarti, one of the leading independent film distribution companies in Turkey. She evaluates scripts and provides feedback on projects in development, scouts titles at international festivals and markets. She participated in Locarno Industry Academy and U30 programs. She was a panelist at Busan International Film Festival, discussing post-pandemic audience trends. Beyond acquisitions, she creates film-related content on YouTube, aiming to make cinema culture more accessible to broader audiences ([email protected], https://www.filmarti.com.tr/main-home/).

Claudia Caetano
Marketing & Distribution Executive / HanWay Films / UK

Claudia Caetano is the Marketing & Distribution Executive at HanWay Films, where she works with filmmakers and distributors on positioning new titles from pre-production to release and supports the marketing campaigns and worldwide launch strategies of their distribution partners. She also supports the company's slate of over 30 titles across the major international film markets. Claudia holds an MA with Honours in Film Distribution & Marketing from Birmingham City University (hanwayfilms.com).

Dovilė Grigaliūnaitė
Programme Director / Kino Pavasaris / Lithuania

Dovilė Grigaliūnaitė is Programme Director at Kino Pavasaris where she oversees the Vilnius International Film Festival's programme, film acquisitions at Kino Pavasaris Distribution, and the special programmes «Pasaka» cinemas in Vilnius. She is responsible for acquiring Baltic rights, previous line-up has included SENTIMENTAL VALUE, FLOW, THE DRAMA, BABYGIRL and IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT. Previously, she worked at the documentary festival «Inconvenient Films» the Vilnius International Short Film Festival, and the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius. She is a member of the European Film Academy.

Maria Lanfranchi
Festival Specialist and Sales / Rai Cinema International Distribution / Italy

Maria Lanfranchi works in International Sales at Rai Cinema International Distribution. After five years at Intramovies, where she specialized in festival strategy, acquisitions and co-productions, she joined the international division of Rai Cinema to focus on international sales. She holds a master’s degree in Linguistic, Literary and Translation Studies from La Sapienza University. She is a member of the European Film Acadamey and an alumna of the Locarno Industry Academy and EAVE workshops ([email protected], raicinemainternationaldistribution.com).

Pierre Landais
Head of communication / Haut et Court / France

Pierre Landais holds a Master's degree from Sciences Po Bordeaux. Since 2015, he has worked at Haut et Court, where he now leads the group's communications across production, distribution and exhibition. He also founded Luzeronde Films, an independent production company, and works as a film trailer editor, combining creative storytelling with expertise in audience engagement ([email protected], hautetcourt.com).

Rachele Parietti
Distribution & Sales Manager / Vue Lumière / UK

Rachele Parietti is a film distribution, exhibition and programming professional with extensive experience in independent and event cinema across the UK and Europe. She currently works as Distribution & Sales Manager at Vue Lumière, the distribution arm of Vue, the leading UK exhibitor and the largest privately owned operator in Europe. Rachele previously held roles at the National Theatre’s NT Live, at independent distributor Modern Films and served as Co-Artistic Director at Umbria Film Festival, Italy (vue-lumiere.studio/).