Maria Bakalova and Boyko Krastanov are among the newly admitted members of the European Film Academy

Actors Maria Bakalova and Boyko Krastanov, as well as 15 other representatives of Bulgarian cinematography, are among the 709 newly admitted members of the European Film Academy. She announced the new additions to her team on Europe Day – May 9.

Once a year, the European Film Academy (EFA) accepts new members, and this year their number is a record, according to a press release on the academy’s website.

This is how the voice of European cinema is amplified in the world, noted EFA, quoted by BTA.

Boyko Krastanov (Photo: Desislava Genkova- Elrisha for URBN )

In addition to the two Bulgarian actors, EFA also joins directors Lisa Boeva, Andrei Hadjivasilev, Kosta Karakashyan, Niki Stoichkov and Galya Stoyanova, as well as cinematographers Ivan Chertov and Alexander Stanishev, and screenwriters Teodora Markova and Simeon Ventsislavov.

The Executive Director of the National Film Center Petar Todorov and Amitabh Vardhan, CEO of Cine Grand are also now EFA members along with producers Borislav Borisov, Kristina Despotova, Ralitsa Golemanova and Irina Gurova.

They have been admitted to the EFA alongside prominent actors and filmmakers such as actress Cate Blanchett, directors Sofia Exarchu and Matteo Garrone. Among the academy’s newly admitted members, 49 percent are female, 50 percent are male, and one percent identify as non-binary. Almost a quarter of all of them are under the age of 36.

The European Film Academy already has over 5,000 members from 52 countries. Anyone can register to vote for the European Film Awards every year. They can participate in events organized by EFA, the press release states.

Since May 1 this year, the president of the EFA is the French actress Juliette Binoche.

EFA was founded in 1988 by leading European filmmakers such as Ingmar Bergman, Pedro Almodóvar, Liliana Cavani, Claude Chabrol, Federico Fellini, Isabelle Huppert, Marcello Mastroianni, Liv Ullmann, Wim Wenders and initially had only 99 members.

Since the 1990s, the academy’s membership has gradually increased.