As preparations for this year’s European Film Awards ceremony are under way, European Film Academy director Marion Döring took some time out to have a chat with Paula Fleri-Soler.

On November 9, at the Seville European Film Festival, the nominations for the 26th European Film Awards were announced by the European Film Academy (EFA) and EFA Productions. Around 2,900 members of the EFA will vote for the winners in the main categories in an awards ceremony that will be held on Saturday.

The European Film Awards are now firmly established as one of the major award ceremonies on the international cinema calendar. The first ceremony, which took place in November 1988, served as the launch pad for the EFA to be set up by a distinguished group of Europe’s finest film-makers. The EFA was officially founded in 1989, with revered Swedish director Ingmar Bergman as its first president.

The academy is now 25 years old. Marion Döring has been EFA director since 1996. Where does she think the European film industry stands today on the world cinema stage?

The current climate definitely does not offer the most prosperous times for European cinema

“The European film industry has a lot to offer – wonderful films, great talent and a strong film industry and network with dedicated film professionals,” she says. “Never before have there been so many films produced in the EU as in the past two years: 1,336 films in 2011 and 1,299 films in 2012.

“At the same time, we are facing cuts in the production budgets as a consequence of the general economic situation in Europe. This, obviously, also affects the film industry.

“We are also witnessing a slight drop in admission numbers, which is another result of the crisis, especially in certain countries.”

Döring opines that the current climate definitely does not offer the most prosperous times for European cinema. Yet, she reiterates that Europe has the talent, the craft and the commitment of the film professionals who believe in what they are doing, and who will always be able to take up any challenges.

The EFA was formed when an eclectic group of film-makers from all four corners of the European continent met for the 1988 awards. It was the company of such luminaries as Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, French actress Isabelle Huppert, German filmmaker Wim Wenders, British actors Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins, Hungarian film-maker István Szabó, Italian actresses Giulietta Masina and Ornella Muti, Polish director Krzsystof Kieslowski and Swedish actor Max von Sydow, among many others, through whose efforts the EFA was born.

The original ethos stated that the academy was founded “to advance the interests of the European film industry”. Does Döring believe these aims have been achieved?

In response, Döring says that the aims of the founders of the European Film Academy will always be valid but never 100 per cent achieved, because the world is changing. “What we call ‘the interests of the European film industry’ today may have a different meaning tomorrow.”

Döring adds that “luckily, it is in our human nature that while we are achieving something, we are already looking for the next challenge. The film industry is definitely one of the fastest-changing industries; therefore, it will always be on the move to becoming something new. And so will the European Film Academy.”

As we head into the final week before this year’s ceremony, how important are the European Film Awards in forwarding the objectives of the academy and Europe as a whole?

“The European Film Awards are very important because they are the annual showcase of our cinema,” says Döring, saying in conclusion that this showcase serves “as a promotional platform, also because the films which are nominated or awarded draw a picture of the current emotional state of Europe, as well as of the societies we live in.”

The 26th annual European Film Awards will take place at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in Berlin, one of the most significant theatre buildings of post-war Germany.

Nominations for the 2013 European Film Awards in the main categories

European Film
Adele: Chapter 1 & 2 /La Vie D’Adèle: Chapitres 1 & 2 (France)
The Best Offer (Italy)
Blancanieves (Spain)
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
The Great Beauty /La Grande Bellezza (Italy, France)
Oh Boy (Germany)

European Comedy
I’m So Excited (Spain)
Love is All You Need /Den Skaldede Frisør (Denmark)
The Priest’s Children /Svecenikova Djeca (Croatia, Serbia)
Welcome Mr President /Benvenuto Presidente (Italy)

European Director
Pablo Berger – Blancanieves
Abdellatif Kechiche – Adele: Chapter 1 & 2 /La Vie D’Adèle: Chapitres 1 & 2
François Ozon – In the House /Dans La Maison (France)
Paolo Sorrentino - The Great Beauty /La Grande Bellezza
Giuseppe Tornatore – The Best Offer
Felix Van Groeningen – The Broken Circle Breakdown

European Actress
Veerle Baetens – The Broken Circle Breakdown
Luminita Gheorghiu – Child’s Pose /Pozitia Copilului (Romania)
Keira Knightely – Anna Karenina (the UK)
Barbara Sukowa – Hannah Arendt (Germany, Luxembourg, France, Israel)
Naomi Watts – The Impossible /Lo Imposible (Spain)

European Actor
Johan Heldenbergh – The Broken Circle Breakdown
Jude Law – Anna Karenina
Fabrice Luchini – In the House /Dans La Maison
Tom Schilling – Oh Boy
Toni Servillo – The Great Beauty /La Grande Bellezza

European Screenwriter
François Ozon – In the House / Dans La Maison
Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello – The Great Beauty /La Grande Bellezza
Tom Stoppard – Anna Karenina
Giuseppe Tornatore – The Best Offer
Felix Van Groeningen, Carl Joos – The Broken Circle Breakdown

European Film Academy Animated Feature Film
The Congress (Israel, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, France, Belgium)
Jasmine (France)
Pinocchio (Italy, Luxembourg, France, Belgium)

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