Emil Elmer has been named as the new head of acquisitions at Pathe UK following the departure of Berenice Fugard to Paramount's specialty arm.

Formerly director of acquisitions at Miramax UK, Elmer said he was joining a great team: "I have for a long time admired Francois and his team at Pathe for their good taste and expertise in distributing films of various genres."

Francois Ivernel, managing director of Pathe UK, said he was delighted by Elmer's appointment.

"He has a great eye for commercial/quality films and has an admirable reputation with the international film community."

Berenice Fugard joined Paramount's specialty division last week as vice president of acquisitions and co-productions.

She comes to the studio after seven years as head of acquisitions at Pathe Distribution in the UK. Prior to that, she was acquisitions executive from 1997 to 1999.

During her time at Pathe her acquisition credits included Memento, House Of Flying Daggers, Transamerica, Crash and The Blair Witch Project.