The 33rd European Film Awards ceremony will take place at Reykjavik’s Harpa conference and concert hall on December 12, 2020.  The annual awards celebrating the finest film works from Europe are held every second year in Berlin and travel throughout Europe the other years. Last year Seville hosted the event. 

In their official statement, the European Film Academy, the City of Reykjavík and the Icelandic government said that Reykjavik’s choice will be an opportunity “to promote Icelandic art, culture and design, as well as marketing Iceland as a preferred destination for film production. It is an important recognition of the Icelandic film industry and presents Reykjavík as an interesting travel and filmmaking destination.”

So far three Icelanders have received EFA awards: composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson in 1991 for the score of Children of Nature by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, Björk, elected Best European Actress for her role in Dancer in the Dark, both from the official EFA voting members and from the People’s Choice in 2000. The same year Ingvar E. Sigurðsson was crowned Best European Actor - People’s Choice Award for his performance in Angels of the Universe by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. 

Additionally, the European University Film Award 2017, chosen by film students from across Europe, went to Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson for Heartstone. 

At the 2018 EFA Awards, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir was nominated for Best Actress for her role in Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman at War.