The European Film Awards, Europe’s equivalent of the Oscars, will move from its traditional December slot to mid-January in 2026.
The European Film Academy, which oversees the awards, said the shifting of the date was part of an ongoing strategy to reposition and rebrand the event and its work.
This year’s 36th edition and the 37th edition in 2024 will both take place in December as previously. The 38th edition will then move to mid-January in 2026.
The academy believes that by moving the ceremony to the beginning of the calendar year, European nominees and winners will be featured much more visibly within the international awards season including the Oscars.
The EFA nominations will continue to be announced by mid-November each year, giving a larger window for nominated films to be promoted.
Academy members eligible to vote will be able to watch the films on the Academy VOD platform, or in cinema screenings if the nominated films are released during this period or are part of programmes the Academy organizes itself, such as the Month of European Film.
“European cinema is one of the great dominant creative and cultural forces in the global cinema hierarchy,” says the European Film Academy’s Chair of the board, Mike Downey.
“The decision of the board to re-position the European Film Awards after almost four decades in December marks a fundamentally positive change as the event finally lands where it should be: front and centre in the heart of the awards season, where it can create maximum impact for European candidates, as well as enhance the Academy’s role as a significant player in the global awards game.”
Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol said the change would immediately lead to the prolongation of its new public-facing Month of European Film inititive.
The inaugural edition which ran for a month from mid-November last year, celebrating European cinema in 45 countries simultaneously.
“In the next years, we will develop this programme into a proper award season for films from Europe. After the season has been established on our continent first, we are keen to explore strategic collaborations and reach audiences in other parts of the world as of 2026,” said Knol.
“Fans of European films live everywhere. We want to make people aware that European cinema exists, that it can be discovered more easily. We’d like to offer European cinema where people prefer watching films – from cinemas to streaming platforms.”
Under current awards calendars, the European Film Awards will take their place within the international awards corridor among the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Oscars.
The planned mid-January slot will position the ceremony in the weekend after the Golden Globes, and prior to the closing of the nomination voting for the Oscars.
The European Film Academy said it had taken its decision in consultation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and BAFTA, as well as the management of festivals such as Sundance, Göteborg, Rotterdam, and the Berlinale, that all take place shortly after the future European Film Awards weekend.
