Riga, European Capital of Culture 2014, will be the host of the 27th European Film Awards next year. 

Taking place in Berlin, seat of the European Film Academy (EFA), every second year, in the other years the ceremony travels. EFA Director Marion Döring says, “as a truly European event, this is the only awards ceremony that travels and it is always great to bring the awards elsewhere. We’re looking forward to the Latvian taste the awards weekend will doubtlessly acquire!” Riga, known for its UNESCO World Heritage historical centre with some of its most impressive art nouveau buildings designed by Michail Eisenstein, father of the legendary filmmaker Sergej, follows Paris, Glasgow, London, Rome, Barcelona, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Bochum, Tallinn and Valletta – all of which have been hosts of the annual event. 

Nominees and winners, EFA Members, invited guests and film fans from the region will celebrate outstanding achievements in European cinema 2014 at the Latvian National Opera, a stately neo-classical style building in Riga, originally constructed as the Riga German Theatre in 1863. 

“The occurrence of such an important European event is undoubtedly a huge stimulus for Rīga, a 2014 European Capital of Culture. The European Film Awards ceremony will invite European film professionals to feel the special charm of Riga's cultural abundance, while opening up the atmosphere of Europe’s common cultural overlay, with Latvia also building up to its European Union presidency” says Diana Čivle, Director of the Rīga 2014 Foundation.

The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, 13 December 2014. 

The European Film Awards 2014 are presented by the European Film Academy e.V. and EFA Productions gGmbH, organized by Foundation Rīga 2014, with financial support by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia and the Riga City Council, as well as .FFA German Federal Film Board, the German State Lottery Berlin, the German State Minister for Culture and the Media, the MEDIA Programme of the EU, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and GLS.