The European Film Academy has admitted Olari Oja and Marianna Kaat as new members.

Olari Oja, the Head of Production at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), and Marianna Kaat, the curator of doc@PÖFF, the festival's documentary film programme, are among 640 film professionals from across Europe whose membership was announced by the Academy.

Olari Oja has worked at PÖFF since 2020, overseeing the festival's technical, spatial, and artistic production. He is also a film producer whose credits include Sulev Keedus's documentaries Galina and Neidsaare hoo peal.

Marianna Kaat has served as Head of Programming for doc@PÖFF since 2024. She has also earned recognition as both a documentary filmmaker—with works including Hole No. 8, The Last Phantoms, and The Last Relic—and as a producer of films such as Kalinovsky Square, Lobotomy, and Close Relations.

Marianna Kaat 2025. aastal PÖFFi lõputseremoonial.

The European Film Academy admits new members once a year. This year, three other Estonian film professionals were also welcomed: cinematographer Ants Tammik, producer Marian Võsumets, and film journalist Emel-Elizabeth Tuulik.

Among the internationally renowned new members are actress Vicky Krieps and director Joachim Trier.

The European Film Academy now has 5,700 members, including 40 from Estonia. Existing Academy members from PÖFF include Tiina Lokk, Mikk Granström, and Marge Liiske.

The President of the European Film Academy is French actress Juliette Binoche.

See the full list of new members here.