09/05/2023 - The European Film Academy reaches 4,600 members in 52 countries, all of whom can register to vote every year to choose the European Film Awards nominees and winners

(from top left to bottom right) Some of the new European Film Academy members: Elliot Crosset Hove, Jasna Đuričić (© Nebojša Babić), Kurdwin Ayub, Meltem Kaplan, Vicki Berlin, Willem Dafoe (© Sasha Kargaltsev), Diana Cam Van Nguyen (© Miyu Distribution) and Frank Petzold (© European Film Academy)

The European Film Academy welcomes 462 film professionals as new members, who will all be eligible to vote. The names of all new members have been announced today 9 May, Europe Day. Members are invited once per year. A record of invited European filmmakers has accepted membership this year, strengthening the voice of European cinema all over the continent.
 
Among the new members, 50% are women, 49% are men or 1% defines as non-binary. Most new members stem from Germany (68), France (38), Switzerland (37), Poland (36), Italy (33), Spain (24), UK (28) and Ukraine (26), but also numerous members have joined from the Netherlands (19), Sweden (13), Serbia (11), Austria (10), Norway (9), Bulgaria, Finland, Iceland, Turkey (all 8), Belgium and Denmark (both 7). A fifth of the new members joining are young members under 36 years old. This strengthens the representation of a younger yet notable generation of European filmmakers within the European Film Academy. Overall, an increasing number of members representing the arts and crafts of cinema have been invited. In the upcoming years, the European Film Academy is keen to further increase the number of members working as editors, production designers, sound designers, composers, hair and make-up artists or costume designers. Among the new members of the European Film Academy are also 8 Romani filmmakers, stemming from the Roma populations in Hungary, UK, Germany, Austria, Kosovo and Sweden.

New members of the European Film Academy include Kurdwin Ayub (Austria), Marie Kreutzer (Austria), Sebastian Meise (Austria), Aliaksei Paluyan (Belarus), Michiel Dhont (Belgium), Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic), Vicki Berlin (Denmark), Elliot Crosset Hove (Denmark), Laura Birn (Finland), Sherwan Haji (Finland), Karim Aïnouz (Germany), Christopher Aoun (Germany), Charly Hübner (Germany), Meltem Kaplan (Germany), Paulina Lorenz (Germany), Abdullah Emre Öztürk (Germany), Christiane Paul (Germany), Frank Petzold (Germany), Philipp Scheffner (Germany), Faraz Shariat (Germany), Ina Weisse (Germany), Pipaluk Kreutzmann Jørgensen (Greenland), Katalin Bársony (Hungary), Hera Hilmar (Iceland), Valdimar Jóhansson (Iceland), Willem Dafoe (Italy), Laura Samani (Italy), Signe Baumane (Latvia), Stephanie Stremler (Luxembourg), Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland), Aleksandra Terpińska (Poland), André Santos (Portugal), Marco Leão (Portugal), Adam Davenport (Serbia), Jasna Đuričić (Serbia), Erdal Murat Aktaş (Spain), Séverine Cornamusaz (Switzerland), Louis Hothothot (Netherlands), Dana Nechushtan (Netherlands), Walter Stokman (Netherlands), Kutluğ Ataman (Turkey), Anastasia Karpenko (Ukraine), Christina Tynkevych (Ukraine) and Mia Bays (UK). Cineuropa journalists Davide Abbatescianni (Italy), Ola Salwa (Poland) and Savina Petkova (Bulgaria) have also joined. Find all new members here.

Currently, the European Film Academy has 4,600 members in 52 countries. All members can register to vote every year and by doing so get access to the Academy Selection of films which are the pool from which nominations and award winners are chosen. Additionally, the Academy organizes events throughout the year, both in-person or online, that help members to connect to each other. Special focus programmes on the Academy VOD platform promote European films and are exclusively accessible to members. Building a European film community of filmmakers, and by doing so growing interest and accessibility of European cinema to a community of film-lovers is one of the main drives of the European Film Academy throughout the year.