Be the first to comment!Malta to host European Film Academy Awards for 2012
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The Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment and the Malta Film Commission announced today that Malta has successfully bid to host the prestigious European Film Academy Awards in 2012.
The annual ceremony, considered to be the European equivalent to the Oscars, recognises and awards the greatest achievements in European cinema over the previous year in a total of 15 categories, including European Film, European Director, European Actress and European Actor. A Lifetime Achievement Award is also given to a European artist (recent recipients have included Dame Judi Dench, Sir Sean Connery, Ennio Morricone, Jean-Luc Godard and Roman Polanski).
The annual red-carpet event is held on the first weekend of December, with Berlin hosting the ceremony every other year, and a different, prominent European city hosting in alternate years. (Since the Academy’s inception, Berlin has been the seat of the EFA Secretariat where it is registered as a non-profit association). Previous cities where the awards have been held include London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Warsaw, and Copenhagen. The last southern location to host the awards was Barcelona in 2004; this year’s ceremony will be held this evening (4th December) in Tallinn, Estonia.
The Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment Tonio Fenech said “This will be an unprecedented event for Malta, and the first time that an international entertainment event of this calibre will be held on the island and covered extensively overseas. It also serves to consolidate Malta’s steadily growing visibility and reputation within the international film industry, and will allow for further recognition both in the build-up to and during the event.”
The Film Commissioner Luisa Bonello explained that the Malta Film Commission had submitted Malta’s bid to host the 2012 ceremony in 2009, and was subsequently shortlisted along with another unnamed city. Following a visit to Malta by the Academy’s directors earlier this year, the island was recommended to the Academy’s Board for their final decision. The Malta Film Commission received the welcome news that its bid was successful shortly after.
Speaking from Tallinn, Estonia, where she is attending this year’s awards ceremony with a Maltese delegation that includes the Permanent Secretary for Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development Peter Portelli and the chairman of the MFC Board Anthony Sammut, Ms Bonello said “This presents a unique opportunity to develop Malta’s relationship with the Academy and subsequently promote the island to the event’s illustrious international audience as well as to provide Malta’s industry participants with the opportunity of interaction with the Academy and its members that might otherwise not be available. The prestigious nature of the awards and the invariable high quality of the productions nominated, as well as the calibre of the filmmakers involved and recognised annually by the Academy, will allow for further exposure to the top echelons of the European film industry that are amongst the most respected worldwide.”
The ceremony is televised on satellite television to over 50 countries, reaching millions of viewers across the continent. The awards are the first in the film industry’s awards season, and are considered to be Europe’s version of the Academy Awards. (Winners of the Best European Film Category often go on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, for example La Vita e Bella and The Lives of Others).
The European Film Academy (EFA) is Europe’s foremost film organisation, and its membership is comprised of almost 2000 European film professionals with the common aim of promoting European film culture. Throughout the year, the EFA initiates and participates in a series of activities dealing with film politics as well as economic, artistic, and training aspects. The programme includes conferences, seminars and workshops, with the aim of building a bridge between creativity and the industry. These activities culminate in the annual presentation of the European Film Awards.
