CineEurope and UNIC (International Union of Cinemas) have awarded Lene Løken, Managing Director of the Norwegian exhibitors organization, Film and Kino, with the UNIC Achievement Award at the CineEurope 2012. The award was presented at the opening ceremony of the event at El Centro de Convenciones Internacional de Barcelona (CCIB), in Barcelona, Spain.

Lene Løken began her career as a journalist in the late sixties before entering the world of politics. She has served as State Secretary to the Norwegian Prime Minister and as State Secretary to the Minister of Culture. Løken was appointed CEO of Film & Kino in 1993 and has served as a Vice-President of UNIC since 2005.

Expressing his gratitude, Ad Weststrate, President of UNIC said that Lene Loken has been a long time advocate and champion of Norwegian, as well as entire European, cinema exhibition sector. He also commented that Lene is known for her straight talk and her clear analysis of the state of the industry, which have helped UNIC bring benefit to European producers.

The UNIC Achievement Award is given each year to an outstanding person for his or her dedication and service to European cinema exhibition. Past recipients include Jean Labé, President, Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français and John Fithian, President, National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO).

via UNIC Press Release.
http://www.unic-cinemas.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/UNIC-Press-release-Lene-Loken-UNIC-Award-2012.pdf