Mark Cousins has joined the creative team preparing the 38th edition of the European Film Awards, which will take place on 17 January at the House of World Cultures (HKW) in Berlin. The appointment follows the wish of the European Film Academy to create more impact with its annual ceremony, and steer away from generic scripts dominated by award categories and acceptance speeches. Instead, the annual award show for European cinema, now taking place more prominently in the international awards season just after the Golden Globes and during the Oscar nomination voting period, will ask, "Why do we love cinema?" and be an artistic experience in itself.

Best known for his numerous documentary films such as the 15-hour The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) and Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (2019), which was handed the European Film Award for Innovative Storytelling in 2020, Cousins has already been nominated in the European Film Awards' European Documentary category for The March on Rome [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]. and won important prizes such as the Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary with his most recent work, A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]. Cousins says: “I love playing with the form of film events, so I jumped at the chance to be part of the European Film Awards' evening. We hope to have some surprises. We'll try to conjure cinematic images, emotions and ideas. I'm honoured to work with Robert, Dascha and the Academy team, in a building I've long admired."

Mark Cousins is joined by German film composer Dascha Dauenhauer, who has signed up as being responsible for the musical concept of the event, and theatre director Robert Lehniger, who acts as stage director and oversees the awards ceremony.

Academy director Matthijs Wouter Knol sums up: “Together with Academy president Juliette Binoche and outgoing chairman Mike Downey, we have worked in the past year to fulfil our shared wish to create a more idiosyncratic form to celebrate European cinema. Cinema has been born in Europe. And Europe continuously forms the source of new international talent, daring storytelling and technical innovation, which all impact the images we see. Being able to work now with Robert, Dascha and Mark is an important step to create an event that can’t be missed. Every year, we want the European Film Awards ceremony to be a true celebratory highlight for everyone loving European films. And yes, we believe that European cinema deserves a bold, mesmerising and inspiring celebration that may well last three hours once per year."