Sin ayudas, por la cara - Cien de Cine

On December, 1st the European Film
Academy will celebrate in Berlin the
20th edition of the European Film
Awards. Can you recall some of the
most memorable moments of the first
ceremony?
At that period of history, in November
1988, when we were gathering for the
first time in Berlin, we were
overwhelmed with emotion witnessing
this fantastic gathering of friends and
some of the most outstanding
colleagues who had come together –
from North and South and – even more
importantly - from East and West. In the
political context of a still divided
continent (and in a devided city) it was
extremely moving when Nikita Mikhalkov
spontaneously ran on stage with a bag
full of Russian caviar and gave it to Curt
Bois who was just about to make his
acceptance speech after being
presented with an award for his
supporting role in “Wings of Desire”. We
had tears in our eyes, when the
Georgian director Sergej Paradjanov –
also completely unexpectedly –
appeared on stage to give his personal
amulet to the Italian actress Giulietta
Masina, Fellini’s wife, who was
honouring Marcello Mastroianni for his
body of work. And then there was this
moment that was recalled so often in
conjunction with the European Film
Awards 2006 in Warsaw, the first
ceremony ever held in Central/Eastern
Europe: When Krzysztof Kieslowski
received the Award for the Best
European Film in 1988, he said: “I hope
Poland is part of Europe”. This sentence
symbolizes so well how much Europe
has changed. Believe me: We
filmmakers from all over Europe – being
all gifted with a talent for imagination -,
we would never have envisioned in our
highest dreams how different our
continent would present itself today, in
2007, when we are celebrating the 20th
ceremony!
During the first ceremony, István
Szabó announced on behalf of his
colleagues that you had decided to
found a European Film Academy.
How and why was the idea born?
It was so obvious that something had to
be done to support European cinema. It
had found itself in a deep crisis in the
late eighties. The audience had
somehow lost confidence in our movies
– and we, the filmmakers, had lost
confidence in ourselves. We had to
oppose something to the rapidly growing
power of Hollywood, but we knew:
blaming “the others” would be the wrong
way. WE had to rediscover our own
entertaining qualities; WE had to
Entrevista a Wim Wenders
understand that auteur cinema did not
mean making films for ourselves; WE
had to learn how to make local films
appealing again for a European
audience. So the idea for the European
Film Academy was born, with the aim to
support and promote European cinema
and to pass on our experience to the
younger generation. In short: to take
responsibility for our contribution to
European culture.
Who were the driving forces behind
this idea beside you?
There are three people to be mentioned
– and to be thanked, because without
their political support, without their
artistic and intellectual input there would
not be a European Film Academy:
Volker Hassemer, Berlin’s Senator for
Culture at the time who put all his
political power and energy in gathering
the European industry in Berlin to
celebrate for the first time European
cinema during a European Awards
ceremony; my colleague István Szabó
who until today has committed his
European spirit to the Academy – it was
him who formulated the Appeal of
European Directors that was signed by
14 directors including Angelopoulos,
Bergman, Fellini and others and became
the Credo of our association; and – last
but certainly not least – Ingmar
Bergman, our first president, and a hero
for many of us.
Europe underwent so many changes
during these 20 years. Can you
describe the impact of these
developments on the history of the
Academy and the Awards?
Well, in the first years we had to deal
with just around twenty film producing
countries. By today, these have more
than doubled. This is also the reason
why we gave up ten years ago the jury
system and the national selection
committees and replaced these by more
democratic procedures. Nowadays,
everybody in the European film industry
can submit a film for the European Film
Awards and the EFA members are
voting for both, the nominees and the
winners. ”Think European!” - this is what
we want to achieve with our members,
“Fight for films with a European potential
and leave national thinking behind you!”
Today, in the 20th year, I can say, we’ve
made a huge step forward.
What do you think are the greatest
achievements of the European Film
Academy?
First of all: building bridges – between
the industry and the talent. We are not
lobbyists for interests of only one group -
we are giving a European home to all
sectors of filmmaking! Second: living
diversity - and enjoying it! Whoever has
attended our Awards ceremonies has
enjoyed the unique atmosphere of big
multi-cultural family gatherings, the
conspiracy of people that feel united by
curiosity and a passion for storytelling.
Third: offering a constantly growing
platform for the promotion of our films.
This year, the Awards ceremony will be
broadcast in 60 countries in Europe and
beyond. This is, indeed, a major
achievement, as it gives the audience in
60 territories the possibility to discover
the rich diversity of European cinema!
Where do you see the European Film
Awards in 20 years?
Thinking of how much our world has
changed during the past 20 years, this is
very difficult to predict, but let me say it
like this: In 1988, when it all started,
there were no internet, no mobile
phones, and the digital revolution was at
its beginnings – not to talk about the
political situation. Whatever the world,
whatever cinema will be in 20 years, we
all know that in every change, there is a
challenge and in every challenge there
is a chance to win. We have to keep our
eyes open, we have to learn and we
have to keep alive our ability of reinventing
ourselves from time to time.
And in all that we shall never forget our
cultural and social responsibility in
protecting and promoting our film
culture. The European Film Academy,
the European Film Awards will play an
important role in this development and
this role will continue to grow. We are
ready to take up the challenge!
Cien de Cine-8