Güler Sabanci to receive the European Sustainability Award

During the 36th European Film Awards on 9 December in Berlin, Güler Sabanci, Chairperson of Sabanci Holding, will receive the European Sustainability Award – Prix FILM4CLIMATE 2023. This year’s Sustainability Award expands from environmental sustainability, defining the context and relevance of sustainability in a broader sense by including all efforts made to enhance society in general, and the well-being and future of the film industry in particular.

The Academy honours Güler Sabancı’s outstanding and impressive philanthropic work recognised not only in Turkey but in Europe and beyond, including by the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, the Clinton Global Citizen Award, the Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy, and the European School of Management Responsible Leadership Award.

In her first reaction, Güler Sabancı highlights that “for a more sustainable world, we should all make more effort together and act consciously and responsively. Cinema is a power that can touch people’s hearts and change the world. This award reinforces our commitment to bring sustainability to a wider audience through cinema.”

Mike Downey, Chair of the Board: “With the European Sustainability Award – Prix FILM4CLIMATE, the European Film Academy is continuing its dedication to a more sustainable film industry in Europe. By widening the scope of sustainability beyond environmental sustainability, we strongly feel that entrepreneurs and philanthropists such as Güler Sabancı, who inspires and encourages so many of us to keep on working on a sector that takes its responsibility, can be celebrated and thanked for their efforts.”

The European Sustainability Award – Prix FILM4CLIMATE aims to award a European institution, company, or film for an “Outstanding European contribution to sustainability in film”. The initiative is a partnership between the European Film Academy and the World Bank Group’s programme for creative communications and climate action, Connect4Climate.

The World Bank Group is the largest multilateral financier of climate action in developing countries. Through Connect4Climate, with its network of over 500 partners worldwide, the programme implements creative campaigns, amplifies impactful stories, elevates the voices of young people and mobilizes audiences through specific initiatives, including Film4Climate. Believing that powerful storytelling on both big and small screens can spark meaningful social change, Film4Climate works with filmmakers, producers and organisations to champion climate and environmental action in the film industry through both content and production.

The objective of the European Sustainability Award – Prix FILM4CLIMATE is to celebrate more than just films that are produced according to the most state-of-the-art sustainable standards, but to encourage the film industry to drive its influential impact towards a sustainable approach to economy, society and environment, promoting real impact in individuals’ lives. The winner will receive a native tree from the country hosting the European Film Awards ceremony, which will be planted locally after the Award ceremony.

The European Film Awards honour the greatest achievements in European cinema. The ceremony of the European Film Awards – the most renowned and prestigious award for European film – is presented by the European Film Academy and European Film Academy Productions.