Among the changes for this year's 28th European Film Awards is the introduction of an EFA Documentary Selection, a list of films recommended to the EFA Members for a nomination (in the past, the nominations were decided by a committee). 

The change follows a decision by the EFA Board to “acknowledge the growing importance of European documentary cinema,” says Israeli producer Marek Rozenbaum, EFA Board Member on the documentary committee, “there is a growing number of excellent documentaries which have to be seen by the members.” 

Another change is the involvement of ten documentary festivals that recommend to the committee up to three films each which have had their world premiere at the respective festival’s latest edition. Chosen in co-operation with the European Documentary Network EDN, these festivals are:

• IDFA (the Netherlands)
• CPH:DOX (Denmark)
• Visions du Réel (Switzerland)
• DokLeipzig (Germany)
• Docslisboa (Portugal)
• Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Greece)
• Jihlava (Czech Republic)
• Cinéma du Réel (France)
• Krakow Film Festival (Poland)
• Sheffield Doc/Fest (UK) 

Based on these recommendations and the films individually submitted, the documentary committee (EFA Members and documentary experts) decides on the EFA Documentary Selection. 

"The committee will choose 15 films which will be made available to all EFA Members as VOD,” Marek Rozenbaum explains. EFA Members will then vote for five documentary nominations. Based on these nominations, the EFA Members will, as in the past, elect the ‘European Documentary 2015’ which will be announced during the awards ceremony on 12 December in Berlin.