Richard Peña

Richard Peña served as the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival from 1988 to 2012. During this time he oversaw the Film Society’s expansion from an annual festival to a year-round film exhibitor, organizing major career retrospectives of directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Sacha Guitry and Satyajit Ray.

Peña is also a Professor of Professional Practice in the Film department at Columbia University, where he specializes in film theory and international cinema. Pena founded the Columbia University MA program in Film Studies: History, Theory and Criticism. From 2006 to 2009 was a Visiting Professor in Spanish at Princeton University. He is also currently the co-host of New York’s Channel 13 weekly Reel 13.