The elections for the Board of the European Film Academy have resulted in 8 new incoming members. Three incumbent Board members who put themselves forward for a new mandate, have been re-elected. Mike Downey (Ireland/UK) will continue as Chair of the Board, with Joanna Szymańska (Poland) now joining Ada Solomon (Romania) as Deputy Chair. 68% of the new European Film Academy Board are women.
‘With the newly elected Board members taking up their mandate from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025, the Board membership represents more countries in North East and South East Europe,” writes the Academy.
North-west Europe is represented by 6 Board members and South-est Europe by 2 Board members. North-east and South-east Europe are represented by 6 Board members. The seat representing members from transnational populations has been dedicated to Sámi filmmakers in 2024-2025, to be followed by Romani filmmakers for 2026-2027.
“This way, traditionally underrepresented groups in the industry, who live in a larger number of European countries, will have a voice in the Academy’s strategy and decision-making,” writes the Academy.
The previous Board unanimously decided to change its representation structure in June 2023, with “a more fair division of seats” as its main goal.
Chairman of the Board Mike Downey, who will stay in the role for another two years, comments: “The new board of the European Film Academy is the most representative board in our history. Earlier in 2023, we decided that representatives will be chosen from 15 regions in Europe. The defined regions, each comprising different countries, reflect the realities of modern Europe and give a fairer and more equal distribution of voices from all over Europe within the board. These changes will make for a more diverse and more democratically representative board to serve the European Film Academy.”
“These structural changes to the way the Academy is run, in order to bring it up to date with contemporary best practices, is just one of the changes which will help us serve our membership better, and provide a voice for some of those territories which have occasionally been marginalised or sidelined, not through any malign will, but simply by virtue of their geo-political location,” Downey continues. “In making these changes we will now rectify and recalibrate and the Academy will emerge stronger, more inclusive and fit for purpose for 2023 and years to come.”
The new members of the Academy Board are:
- Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia: Daniel Hočevar (Slovenia)
- Andorra, Portugal, Spain: Paz Lázaro Barquilla (Spain)
- Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Israel: Giorgos Karnavas (Greece)
- Azerbaijan, Palestine, Turkey: Başak Emre (Turkey)
- Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania: Mira Staleva (Bulgaria)
- Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia: Hanka Kastelicová (Czech Republic)
- Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden: Tine Klint (Denmark)
- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: Marija Razgutė (Lithuania)
- Transnational ethnic representation (Sámi and Roma populations of Europe): Anne-Lajla Utsi (Sápmi/Norway)
The following incumbent Board members continue their mandate until 31 December 2024:
- Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland: Bettina Brokemper (Germany) and Nina Hoss (Germany) Only one seat for this region will be available as of 1 January 2025)
- Poland, Ukraine: Denis Ivanov (Ukraine)
- France, Monaco: Christophe Leparc (France)
- Italy, San Marino, Vatican City: Maria Nevina Satta (Italy)
- Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands: Leontine Petit (Netherlands)
- Ireland, United Kingdom: Jim Sheridan (Ireland)
- Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia: Board member will be elected before 1 January 2025
Honorary members of the Board are István Szabó (Hungary) and Sir Ben Kingsley (UK). The President of the European Film Academy is Agnieszka Holland, which is an honorary and symbolic role traditionally given to an outstanding senior European filmmaker. Ingmar Bergman was the first President since the founding years of the European Film Academy (1989-1996), followed by Wim Wenders (2006-2020). The President of the Academy is not a member of the Board.
