At the closing press conference of the Seville European Film Festival on Saturday, the European Film Academy and the city of Seville announced the decision to hold the 2018 European Film Awards in the capital of southern Spain’s Andalusia region. 

The announcement was made by Antonio Muñoz, Delegate for Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism for the Seville City Council, Mike Downey, deputy chairmen of the EFA Board, and Joséluis Cienfuegos, director of the Seville European Film Festival.

picture: Mstyslav Chernov

Antonio Muñoz, on behalf of the City Council, said that “we are very happy” that Seville will be hosting the 31st edition of the EFA Awards; “an event that the city has pursued insistently and that finally will be a reality”. The delegate stated that “Seville loves cinema, it is the setting for international shoots and the city is the birthplace of directors and actors, which is why this decision by the EFA is the culmination of this city’s commitment to cinema”.

Mike Downey expressed his delight about the EFA Awards to be held in Seville, “a city that is our soulmate". He stressed the thirteen years “of loyal collaboration and friendship” with “one of the best festivals of European cinema”, and underlined its close work with universities, institutes and schools, and also its commitment to European cinema.

The city of Seville is home to the Seville European Film Festival (SEFF), a festival dedicated exclusively to European cinema. Since 2005, the European Film Academy has been announcing the annual nominations for the European Film Awards in the framework of the festival. The city has a great cinematic tradition and served as the set for various film productions, the Plaza de España in the Parque de María Luisa appears in George Lucas' STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES as well as in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA as the headquarter of the British Army in Cairo, while the courtyard was the Hotel King Alfonso XIII. And, most recently, the seventh season of GAME OF THRONES has been shooting here.

The European Film Awards 2018 will take place in December 2018.

Berlin 14 November 2016