The European Film Academy Community Award is starting with a powerful statement. The Academy has named Beki Probst, Marin Karmitz and Sandra den Hamer as the first-ever recipients of the new honor, spotlighting three industry figures whose work has shaped how European cinema is produced, exhibited, preserved and discovered across generations.
Set to be presented during the European Film Awards weekend in Athens in January 2027, the new prize recognizes a long-term and decisive contribution to European film culture. For anyone following the evolution of film institutions, festivals, distribution and cinema heritage, this announcement is more than a ceremonial headline. It reflects how deeply the European screen sector depends on builders behind the scenes.
What the European Film Academy Community Award Celebrates
The new European Film Academy Community Award is designed to honor sustained impact rather than a single project or season. According to the Academy’s framing, the prize acknowledges individuals whose years of work have helped develop and expand European film culture in meaningful ways.
The award will be handed out on January 15, 2027, during the Welcome Night gala dinner ahead of the main European Film Awards ceremony. This year’s event takes place in Athens, with the pre-ceremony gathering hosted at the Acropolis Museum, adding a fitting historical backdrop to a celebration of cinematic legacy.
In choosing its first honorees, the Academy has highlighted three different but interconnected corners of the film ecosystem:
- Film markets and international industry infrastructure
- Independent production, distribution and exhibition
- Film museums, festival leadership and archival culture
Beki Probst: Architect of the European Film Market
Beki Probst’s influence on European cinema is difficult to overstate. Best known as the founder of the Berlinale’s European Film Market in its modern form, she helped create one of the most important business platforms in the global film industry.
Before that, Probst had already built a strong foundation in cinema exhibition. Alongside her Swiss husband, she co-founded the Queenie Cinemas in Bern in the 1960s, establishing an arthouse circuit that still exists today. Her early background also included studies in law and journalism, as well as a period working as a film journalist.
Her path through international film culture included roles as Berlinale delegate for Turkey and Greece from 1981 to 1988, and she also played a role in initiating Locarno’s industry program. When Berlinale director Moritz de Hadeln asked her to launch the European Film Market in 1988, she helped turn it into a cornerstone of film financing, sales and festival deal-making in Europe.
Under her leadership through 2014, the EFM became one of Europe’s largest and most influential film markets. Her previous honors, including distinctions from Germany, Switzerland and France, underscore the scale of her contribution.
Marin Karmitz: A Force in Independent Cinema
If Probst helped build the marketplace, Marin Karmitz helped define what independent European cinema could achieve within it. The founder of mk2 film is one of the most important figures in French and European arthouse film, with a career spanning directing, producing, financing, sales and exhibition.
Born in Romania in 1938, Karmitz arrived in France as a refugee in 1947. After studying at Paris film school IDHEC, he worked with major filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda and Jacques Rozier before launching his own directing career.
His early creative work included collaborations of notable artistic ambition, including work with Samuel Beckett. But his lasting legacy lies in building institutions that supported bold cinema. He founded mk2 Productions in 1967 and later expanded into cinema ownership after mainstream circuits resisted one of his politically charged films.
Over four decades, Karmitz produced more than 100 films and distributed over 350 titles in theaters. His company became associated with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in world cinema, including:
- Krzysztof Kieslowski
- Claude Chabrol
- Alain Resnais
- Louis Malle
- Theo Angelopoulos
- Abbas Kiarostami
- Michael Haneke
- Ken Loach
- Xavier Dolan
That record makes his recognition by the European Film Academy Community Award especially fitting. His career represents a rare combination of artistic conviction and commercial infrastructure.
Sandra den Hamer: Champion of Film Heritage and Festival Culture
Sandra den Hamer’s career shows how film culture depends not only on new releases, but also on preservation, curation and public access. Her work in the Dutch film sector has connected festivals, archives, museums and funding institutions in lasting ways.
From 2007 to 2023, she led the Netherlands Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, where her tenure saw the transformation of the institution into the Eye Filmmuseum. Under her leadership, the organization opened a striking new museum building and collection center, helping cement its role as one of Europe’s leading spaces for film heritage and exhibition.
The Eye Filmmuseum became known for its wide-ranging programming, from filmmaker retrospectives to exhibitions and conferences that put cinema in conversation with art, history and technology.
Before that, den Hamer spent 23 years at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, serving in key roles including coordinator of CineMart and the Hubert Bals Fund before becoming festival director from 1996 to 2007. She also chaired the board of the Association of European Cinematheques and later served in leadership positions at the Netherlands Film Fund, IDFA Institute and Gerrit Rietveld Academy.
Her selection for the European Film Academy Community Award recognizes the essential labor of cultural stewardship that keeps cinema alive beyond the box office.
Why This Recognition Matters for European Screen Culture
The significance of the new European Film Academy Community Award goes beyond honoring three distinguished careers. It signals a wider understanding of how film culture actually works.
European cinema is sustained by more than directors and stars. It also depends on the people who:
- Create spaces where films can be financed and sold
- Build independent distribution and exhibition networks
- Preserve archives and present film history to new audiences
- Support festivals, funds and institutions that nurture talent
By recognizing Probst, Karmitz and den Hamer together, the Academy is effectively honoring the ecosystem behind the screen.
The European Film Awards in Athens
The 2027 European Film Awards weekend will unfold in Athens, with the 39th ceremony continuing the Academy’s newer January scheduling. The move from December to January is intended to better align the event with the broader international awards season.
The European Film Academy now counts 5,700 members across more than 50 countries, underlining its growing continental reach. With Athens hosting this edition, the event also continues the Academy’s pattern of alternating between Berlin and other European cities.
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Conclusion
The launch of the European Film Academy Community Award feels both timely and deserved. By choosing Beki Probst, Marin Karmitz and Sandra den Hamer as its first honorees, the Academy has celebrated three careers that helped build European film culture from the ground up. The clearest takeaway is simple: cinema thrives not only because of what appears on screen, but because of the institutions, networks and visionaries working tirelessly behind it.
