Malta will host the European equivalent of the Oscars in 2012, the Ministry of Finance and the Malta Film Commission announced this evening.
The annual ceremony recognises and awards the greatest achievements in European cinema over the previous year in a total of 15 categories, including European Film, European Director, European Actress and European Actor.
A Lifetime Achievement Award is also given to a European artist. Recent recipients have included Dame Judi Dench, Sir Sean Connery, Ennio Morricone, Jean-Luc Godard and Roman Polanski.
The red-carpet event is held on the first weekend of every December, with Berlin hosting the ceremony every other year, and a different European city hosting in alternate years.
Cities where the awards have been held include London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Warsaw, and Copenhagen. The last southern location to host the awards was Barcelona in 2004; this year’s ceremony will be held this evening in Tallinn, Estonia.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this would be an unprecedented event for Malta, and the first time that an international entertainment event of this calibre woukld be held here.
"It will serve to consolidate Malta’s steadily growing visibility and reputation within the international film industry, and will allow for further recognition both in the build-up to and during the event.”
Film Commissioner Luisa Bonello explained that the Malta Film Commission had submitted Malta’s bid to host the 2012 ceremony in 2009, and was subsequently shortlisted along with another unnamed city. Following a visit to Malta by the Academy’s directors earlier this year, the island was recommended to the Academy’s Board for their final decision.
“This presents a unique opportunity to develop Malta’s relationship with the Academy and subsequently promote the island to the event’s illustrious international audience as well as to provide Malta’s industry participants with the opportunity of interaction with the Academy and its members that might otherwise not be available. The prestigious nature of the awards and the invariable high quality of the productions nominated, as well as the calibre of the filmmakers involved and recognised annually by the Academy, will allow for further exposure to the top echelons of the European film industry that are amongst the most respected worldwide.”
The ceremony is televised on satellite television to over 50 countries, reaching millions of viewers across the continent. The awards are the first in the film industry’s awards season, and are considered to be Europe’s version of the Academy Awards.