European Film Academy (EFA)

Overview

The European Film Academy (EFA) is a professional membership organization of 5,700 European film professionals across 60 countries. Founded in 1988 by Ingmar Bergman, Wim Wenders, Federico Fellini, Pedro Almodovar, Isabelle Huppert, Liv Ullmann, and 10 other European filmmakers, the Academy was originally capped at 99 members. Since 2020, membership has grown by 30%, with 770 new members admitted in May 2025 and 640 more in June 2026. The EFA presents the European Film Awards annually and operates a VOD platform called "Underscore" that gives members access to shortlisted European films. Juliette Binoche has served as President since 2024.

For European filmmakers, EFA membership means voting access to the European Film Awards shortlist, year-round screening events, and professional community across national borders. The Academy is headquartered in Berlin, and the awards ceremony has been held at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt since the 2026 edition.

European Film Awards

The European Film Awards are the EFA's primary activity. The 38th edition took place on January 17, 2026, in Berlin, distributed through 49 broadcast and livestream partners across 29 European countries. For the first time, the ceremony was positioned in the international awards season calendar just after the Golden Globes and during Oscar nomination voting.

The 2026 ceremony was dominated by Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value, which won six awards: Best European Film, Best Director, Best Screenwriter (Eskil Vogt and Trier), Best Actor (Stellan Skarsgard), Best Actress (Renate Reinsve), and Best Composer (Hania Rani). Oliver Laxe's Sirat won five craft awards including cinematography, editing, sound design, production design, and casting. Laura Carreira won European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI for On Falling.

The awards cover 18 categories: European Film, European Director, European Actor, European Actress, European Screenwriter, European Cinematographer, European Editor, European Production Designer, European Costume Designer, European Make-Up and Hair Artist, European Sound Designer, European Composer (Original Score), European Casting Director, European Discovery (Prix FIPRESCI), European Animated Feature Film, European Documentary, European Young Audience Award, European Short Film (Prix Vimeo), and the LUX Audience Award.

Membership Structure and Qualification

EFA membership is by invitation. Existing members recommend new candidates who must meet professional qualification standards. The Academy admitted 770 new members on Europe Day (May 9) in 2025 and 640 new members in June 2026. Of the 2026 intake, 51% were women, 48% men, and 1% non-binary. 19% of new members were under 36, and 19% work in arts and crafts roles, reinforcing the Academy's chapter structure.

The Academy introduced an "Emerging Membership" category for filmmakers under 36. To qualify, candidates need credits as head of department on either one feature-length film (70+ minutes) or three short films (fiction, documentary, or animation). These works must have screened in an official section of a competitive FIAPF-accredited film festival, at one of the partner festivals of the European Short Film Network, or have been nominated by a national film academy. Film students who meet these criteria can also apply.

Membership growth has been particularly strong in Central and Eastern European countries, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), and Southeastern European and Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Turkey). The Academy actively encourages contributions from indigenous and transnational communities, including Greenlandic Inuit, Kurdish, Roma, and Sami filmmakers.

The Voting Process

The European Film Awards selection process works in three stages. First, films are submitted and shortlisted by a selection committee and national film academies. Second, all 5,700 EFA members who register to vote get access to the shortlisted films on the Academy's VOD platform. Third, members vote on the shortlist to determine nominees and winners across most categories. Several categories have separate selection processes: the European Discovery prize is decided jointly with FIPRESCI, the LUX Audience Award involves public voting, and the Young Audience Award involves student juries across Europe.

European Film Policy Advocacy

The EFA engages with European Union cultural and audiovisual policy on behalf of its membership. The Academy contributes the perspective of working film professionals to policy discussions about film funding, streaming platform obligations under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), copyright reform, and the proposed AgoraEU programme that will replace Creative Europe MEDIA. This advocacy role complements the work of FERA (directors), IMAGO (cinematographers), and other craft-specific European organizations.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For filmmakers producing in Europe, EFA membership and European Film Award consideration provide continental visibility that supports international distribution and co-production development. The 2026 ceremony's shift into the international awards season calendar (January, between Golden Globes and Oscars) increases the awards' relevance to North American distributors and sales agents who previously paid limited attention to a December ceremony.

The selection process involves national film academies nominating films from their countries, with EFA members then voting across a shortlist. Filmmakers should understand that their film's EFA consideration depends on their national film academy's submission process, which varies by country. The European Film Awards shortlist is typically published in November, with nominations announced in December and the ceremony in January.

For the European Film Awards entry page on this site, see European Film Awards. For the European directors federation that advocates alongside the EFA on EU policy, see FERA. For the international critics federation that co-presents the European Discovery prize, see FIPRESCI.

See Also

Use the Indie Film Budget Calculator to model your European co-production financing. For the European Film Awards page in the awards directory, see European Film Awards. For the European directors federation, see FERA. For the international film critics federation, see FIPRESCI.