The European Film Academy has welcomed a record intake of 462 new members, including US-Italian actor Willem Dafoe, Austrian director Marie Kreutzer, and Mia Bays, head of the BFI Film Fund.
The new members have been announced today, May 9, on Europe Day, a day promoted by the European Union for celebrating peace and unity in Europe.
European Film Academy members are invited to join the organisation once per year; it currently has 4,600 members in 52 countries.
Dafoe, who is known for roles in films including Platoon, Spider-Man and The Florida Project, was born in the US, but qualifies as European through his Italian citizenship; he is also married to an Italian and splits his time between the US and Italy. Kreutzer has directed six feature films, including historical drama Corsage. It debuted in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year where Vicky Krieps won the best performance prize, before going on to multiple best actress accolades including at the European Film Awards.
Other new entrants include Germany-based Brazilian filmmaker Karim Ainouz; Belgian Michiel Dhont, who produced his brother Lukas Dhont’s films Girl and Close; Italian Small Body director Laura Samani; Serbia’s Jasna Duricic, star of Quo Vadis, Aida?; and Polish stalwart Jerzy Skolimowski.
50% of the new members are women, with 49% men and 1% defining themselves as non-binary. Germany has the most new members with 68, with 38 from France, 37 from Switzerland, 36 from Poland, 33 from Italy, 24 from Spain, 28 from the UK and 26 from Ukraine.
One-fifth of the new members are under the age of 36; with the European Film Academy also keen to increase the number of craftspeople within its organisation, including editors, production designers, sound designers, composers, hair and make-up artists and costume designers.
The Academy was founded in 1988 on the occasion of the first European Film Awards, and was originally limited to a maximum of 99 members. It has increased its membership by 20% since 2020. Upcoming activities include the launch of the European Film Club for young audiences in autumn 2023.
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