A new pan-European body has just been created: Face, the Federation of Film Academies Europe.
Film academies from 20 European countries, as well as the European Film Academy, make up the body, active since 11 July 2024. Face is headquartered in Luxembourg and Yann Tonnar, current president of Filmakademie Luxembourg, has been elected president, representing its 20,000 individual members.
Making it formal
The film academies had previously come together in a network called the Film Academies Network (“Fan”) of Europe. “We got together informally to discuss our practices and questions,” says Tonnar, “but we decided to give this group a more official status by setting up a federation, with a legal framework, a board of directors, operating rules, etc. This framework gives us greater representation to the outside world, as well as the opportunity to take a public stand.”
The founding members of Face at the creation of the Luxembourg-based federation. Photo: Marie De Decker
Film academies are honorary professional organisations that work to promote the film industry in each country. Their main mission is generally to organise film awards at the national level, or the regional level in some cases (Catalonia). In Luxembourg, the Filmakademie (which represents 430 members) organises the annual Lëtzebuerg Filmpräis. Many also have a mission to promote film education, whether through educational work with young audiences or by organising debates on specific subjects. Since 2022, the Filmakademie has also been participating in the Films4schools.lu platform, which makes a selection of Luxembourg co-productions available to the country’s teachers, along with related educational packs. It can also act as an advisory body to representatives involved in filmmaking.
Swapping ideas, promoting cinema
“Above all, we want to be able to continue exchanging information and ideas relating to our activities,” says Tonnar. “For example, we share a great deal on practical issues relating to the organisation of awards ceremonies, the choice of categories, the best platforms for viewing films, etc. We also exchange information on issues relating to our sector of activity, societal issues that have repercussions in our industry, issues of sustainability, diversity and inclusion.”
The new federation will also enable joint, concerted action to be taken on the European and international stage. “Our aim is to make our voice heard at European level, to promote European cinema and to fight for its visibility. We will be able to take action, for example, at the level of the European Commission and the orientation of the media programme, among other things.”
One of the first objectives is to work on the federation’s visibility and identity. This will involve developing a dedicated website. “We want to use this site to promote our activities, but also to promote European cinema by listing all the films and professionals who have won awards at our respective awards ceremonies,” says the president.
This article in French.