Matthijs Wouter Knol

Since 2021, Matthijs Wouter Knol (1977) is the CEO and Director of the European Film Academy. At the helm of this historical institution, founded in 1989 by Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Claude Chabrol, István Szabó, Wim Wenders and many other European filmmakers, he is responsible for all programming of current and future new activities of the Academy, including brand new audience development and film education projects. The annual European Film Awards being its most well-known event, the scope of its impact will change: in the upcoming years, the Academy will initiate an annual Month of European Film programme, the European Film Club and numerous activities embracing European film heritage. This new portfolio is carried out in collaboration with major stakeholders all over Europe.

Originally a historian, Matthijs read Contemporary History in Leiden, the Netherlands and Rome, Italy, and started working as an editor and journalist at age 15. From 2001 onwards, he was involved as creative and associate producer in over 30 documentary films in Amsterdam. For ARTE, he co-produced a digital edition of 40 re-mastered works of Dutch documentarian Johan van der Keuken, which was awarded the Prix Cahiers du Cinéma (2006). For 12 years he formed part of the senior Berlinale team, first as Head of Programming of Berlinale Talents (2008-2014), then as Director of the European Film Market (2014-2020).

Since 2017, Diversity and Inclusion have been an intrinsic part of Matthijs’s work. Gradually introducing D&I schemes, both at EFM and more recently at the European Film Academy, rethinking and diversifying organizational structures within the European film industry is a key element in his daily work. In 2020, he was one of the co-founders of the Anti-Racism Taskforce for European Film, an organization addressing systemic racism in European film culture and joined that year by 25 organisations. As a Board member of the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR), he works on advocacy and the support of filmmakers imprisoned or threatened by authorities in and outside Europe.

Matthijs was born on Europe Day, which commemorates the start of the European Union. He’s a Dutch citizen, married to a Portuguese, lives for almost 15 years in Berlin, and feels comfortable in 6 European languages.