European Film Academy

When the 1,400 guests for the 21st European Film Awards on 6 December arrive at the Copenhagen Forum, they will be welcomed by Danish TV star Mikael Bertelsen who will lead through the Awards Ceremony as host of the evening.

Throughout the evening, an impressive line-up of actors and actresses will enter the stage to present the individual awards, among them Marianne Faithfull (UK), Julia Jentsch (Germany), and Paprika Steen (Denmark), as well as Andrzej Chyra (Poland), Mads Mikkelsen (Denmark), Kim Rossi Stuart (Italy), and Santiago Segura (Spain).

Joining them will be their colleagues - all of whom have been part of the European Film Promotion’s SHOOTING STARS programme - Stine Fischer Christensen (Denmark, 2008), Anna Geislerova (Czech Republic, 2004), Hannah Herzsprung (Germany, 2008), Anamaria Marinca (Romania, 2008), and Labina Mitevska (FYR Macedonia, British shooting star 1998), and their male counterparts Stefano Accorsi (Italy, 2001), Thure Lindhardt (Denmark, 2000), and Mark O’Halloran (Ireland, 2005).

The list of presenters is completed by Dr. Gottfried Langenstein, President of ARTE, Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information, Society and Media, Kirsi Tykkyläinen from Finland, director of the Moscow Film Festival, and EFA President Wim Wenders.

The music for the evening will come from Denmark’s popular DR BIG BAND under the artistic direction of Chris Minh Doky.

Among the guests this year will be Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark as well as the recipients of the honorary awards - Dame Judi Dench and the Dogma founders Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Kristian Levring, Lars von Trier, and Thomas Vinterberg - as well as other film stars, winners and nominees, members of the European Film Academy, and the European film industry.

The script for the event has been developed by Nick Roddick (UK) with Jens Krone and Oliver Zahle (both Danish). The set has been designed by Claus Zier (Denmark). The European Film Awards Ceremony is produced by EFA Productions in co-operation with the German public broadcaster ZDF, the European culture channel ARTE, and DR Danish Radio. Producer is Marion Döring, Director of the EFA, executive producer is Jürgen Biesinger. The production is directed by Maria von Heland (artistic director) and Andreas Morell (TV director) to be broadcast in a total of 45 territories.

Berlin and Copenhagen, 1 December 2008