European Film Academy Names First Community Award Honorees

The European Film Academy has named Beki Probst, Marin Karmitz and Sandra den Hamer as the first recipients of its new Community Award for an Outstanding Contribution to European Film Culture.

The distinction is designed to recognize people whose sustained work has helped develop and expand European cinema beyond a single film or awards season. The three inaugural honorees will receive the award during the Academy’s Welcome Night at the Acropolis Museum in Athens on January 15, 2027, one day before the 39th European Film Awards.

Three careers built around European cinema

Probst’s career connects exhibition, festivals and the international film trade. After helping establish the Queenie Cinemas in Bern, she worked as a Berlinale delegate and later launched the European Film Market in its modern form in 1988. She managed the market through 2014 as it became a major meeting point for the global industry.

Karmitz moved from filmmaking into production, distribution and exhibition through mk2. His early career included work with filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Agnès Varda, while the company he founded grew into one of the most recognizable names in European art-house cinema.

Den Hamer has held leadership roles at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. She has also served on the Association of European Cinematheques board and, more recently, as interim executive director of the Netherlands Film Fund.

A member-driven form of recognition

The Academy says its 5,700 members can propose candidates for the annual honor, with the board selecting three recipients. That structure distinguishes the prize from the performance and craft awards attached to nominated films: it is intended to spotlight long-term cultural infrastructure and peer-recognized service.

The timing also places the honorees within the Academy’s broader awards weekend rather than separating the tribute from the main event. Probst, Karmitz and den Hamer will attend the ceremony as honorary guests on January 16.

By beginning with figures associated with film markets, independent distribution, festivals and preservation, the Academy is defining “contribution” broadly. Its first Community Award recognizes not one kind of achievement, but the network of institutions and advocates that allows European films to be financed, shown, discussed and remembered.