The European Film Academy and EFA Productions are pleased to announce that the European Film Awards 2009 will take place in Essen in Germanys Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The unique move is a change from the regular system which brings the European Film Awards to Berlin, home of the European Film Academy, every two years. In the years inbetween the awards ceremony is held in different European film capitals such as London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Warsaw, and now Copenhagen. As a first highlight of the European Capital of Culture year "RUHR 2010" the European Film Awards 2009 are Berlins contribution to "Essen for the RUHR 2010. The annual awards ceremony celebrates the best in European cinema, voted for by the European Film Academys 1,800 members. The European Film Awards are presented by the European Film Academy e.V. and its production company EFA Productions gGmbH and in 2009 supported by the Minister President and the Minister for Federal and European Affairs and the Media of North Rhine-Westphalia, Filmstiftung NRW, RUHR 2010, the German State Minister for Culture and the Media, the MEDIA Programme of the EU, FFA German Federal Film Board, and TNT Express.