Romanian producer Ada Solomon has been elected chair of the European Film Academy (EFA) board.
Lemming Film founder Leontine Petit and France’s Tatino Films CEO Matthieu Darras have both been elected as deputy chairs. Their two-year mandate will start on January 1, 2026.
Solomon has served for six years as deputy chair alongside outgoing chair Mike Downey. Petit has been a regular board member since 2021. Darras has been elected without previous experience on the board of the EFA, but has been an active academy member.
Bucharest-based Microfilm producer Solomon has won two Golden Bears across her career, for Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn (2021) and Child’s Pose (2013). Further credits include Bogdan Mureșanu’s Venice Horizons 2024 best film winner The New Year That Never Came and Radu Jude’s Locarno 2023 premiere Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World.
For the first time, a board seat has been created for a representative of transnational minorities in Europe. Ukraine’s Petro Rusanienko has been elected and will represent the community of Roma and Sinti filmmakers in Europe.
The EFA board consists of 19 representatives and meets three times a year in various locations in Europe. In total, 74% of the board is female and 42% of its members are producers.
The upcoming edition of the European Film Awards ceremony will take place on January 17 in Berlin.
Solomon said: “Being part of the European Film Academy board for a decade now, I took the responsibility to promote excellence in filmmaking in all the diversity of the European cinematic voices, but also to put the spotlight on the less visible ones – the smaller territories, the underrepresented forms of cinema, the crews behind the camera. It is a time of change, and I am ready to take the challenge.”
“To quote Shakespeare, ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’ But I am happy to leave the Academy in good shape and fit for purpose for the future,” added Downey. “I welcome all new members in the new intake of 2026, and I am sure that their contribution to the membership of the European Film Academy going forwards will be as positive and as committed as the boards of recent years – who have not asked for what the European Film Academy can do for them, but demonstrated ably what they can do for the academy.”
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