DIFF has a year-round team developing the festival programme, enriching its partnerships, and delivering its community and outreach projects. The team grows in the lead up to the annual festival where we welcome colleagues across departments including Production, Hospitality, Box Office, Press & PR and Event Management.

Gráinne has worked in film programming for over 20 years; she started her career working with young audiences with the Junior Dublin Film Festival in 1994. In 1995 she joined the IFI as Education Officer and expanded her role to include programming seasons on Andy Warhol, Agnès Varda and Harold Pinter. She became Assistant Director in 2001 and programmed both the Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Festival and the Dublin French Film Festival from 2002 to 2007. Among other projects, she co-edited Ireland into Film, a series of publications on a number of key Irish films.

She has served as a jury member on several international film festivals and has coordinated numerous Irish film seasons at international events. She is a Board Member of the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris and has been Festival Director of the Dublin International Film Festival since 2007.

This year, Grainne was named Creative Businesswoman of the Year at the IMAGE PWC Businesswomen of the Year Awards 2024, and was welcomed as a member to the prestigious European Film Academy

Sam looks after the development of the festival’s partnerships and audiences, finding fresh and exciting ways of collaborating and introducing more people to the festival.

Prior to this, Sam was the Creative Director of The Culture Trust, Luton (UK), an entrepreneurial arts charity developing and delivering programmes across multiple venues and sites.

Sam has worked extensively across the UK developing and delivering creative and cultural programmes and audience engagement initiatives: including with Leicester Comedy Festival, Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts, Journeys Festival International and Liberty EU.

Sam is a seasoned fundraiser and has built income strategies that connect across public funding, private commissions, sponsorship, donations, co-productions and charitable grants.

Having been with DIFF since 2020, Karen was appointed Festival Manager in September 2023 taking responsibility for the operational delivery of all festival screenings and activities including recruiting the festival team and liaising with venue. She has worked across the industry in several roles covering finance, operations, administration and publicity, since including with Sony Pictures where she began in 1998.

Maev’s focus is on marketing the festival, building creative campaigns to excite and engage new and returning audiences.

Maev joined DIFF in 2024, returning to Dublin from the UK with 7+ years’ experience in marketing and communications across arts, higher education and non-profit sectors, working with organisations including Bristol Old Vic Theatre, Curzon Cinema & Arts, FilmBath, and the University of Bristol.

Combined with freelance work, her diverse experience spans live theatre, live music and circus arts, film exhibition, sustainability, mental health, and community engagement.

Maev holds a passion for connecting audiences with unforgettable cultural experiences, and an abiding love of film, at the core of her work. She specialises in campaign planning and project management, design and content creation, brand development, and audience development.

With a background originally in Film Production and theory, Meghan Mickela started working with DIFF in 2024. Meghan has worked in development with One Productions in Dublin and managed the organization of the STAND gender campaign. In 2022 Meghan finished her master's degree in Screenwriting and went on to produce and write for One Productions before joining the DIFF team. With various roles at multiple Film Festivals in the New England area, Meghan spent most of her undergraduate years volunteering and watching films in her free time.

Carole is a Chartered Accountant working for many years in the Retail Sector including Switzers and Brown Thomas. I started working in the Arts Sector joining the Dublin Fringe Festival in May 2019 and the Dublin International Film Festival in December 2019.