Simon Ward

Simon moved from Ireland to the UK and began working in independent film for London Electronic Art’s Pandemonium Film Festival in 1995. Subsequently he joined the BFI London Film Festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival where he organised masterclasses as well as contributing to the broader Festival programme selections. He became Deputy Director of Cinema at the ICA in London programming new international cinema, much of which was not then in UK distribution.

Simon has written and directed short films as well as producing documentaries on various filmmakers, from François Ozon to Wong Kar-Wai, contributed to books on UK and US cinema for academic publisher Routledge and is a consultant for the EU’s Creative Europe funding programme.

Simon joined the Independent Cinema Office at its very beginning in 2003, leaving in 2016 after purchasing The Palace Cinema in Broadstairs, Kent with his wife Corinna. Since 2010, Simon has been an active member of the Programming Advisory Board for the London Korean Film Festival – the largest international showcase for Korean cinema outside Korea. Simon also currently has two feature film screenplays in development.