Stefan Kitanov was born on 31 October 1961 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He holds degrees in economics and in film criticism. In 1993-1994 he lived in Britain and studied arts management in Leicester.

From 1992 to 1999, Kitanov was a director and programmer of the Cinema House, the most important art-house cinema in Bulgaria.

After establishing his production companies RFF International (1994) and Art Fest (2001), he began organizing annual film festivals in Bulgaria. As a director and producer he founded the Sofia International Film Festival. In 2007 Variety put Sofia IFF in the Top 50 must- attended world film events.

Since 2004 he’s been involved in distribution of quality European films in Bulgaria by directors as Wim Wenders, Francois Ozon, Lars von Trier, Terry Gilliam, Aki Kaurismaki, Fatih Akin, Dardenne Brothers, David Mackenzie, Radivoje Andric, Dusan Milic, Kornel Mundruczo, Susanne Bier.

Kitanov is a member of the European Film Academy. He has been a jury member in Cannes, Venice, Karlovy Vary, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt.

Since 2003 he’s been managing The Cinema House in Sofia. Kitanov is a member of The Festival Band.

The films he produced and co-produced over the years have been awarded and received recognition at numerous international and national film festivals.