In a statement for the media, Holland said: “I am not a person to easily step aside, but I have come to the conclusion that I am a filmmaker first and foremost. And this is what I want to focus on in the years to come.”
In an earlier interview for the Polish press, Holland revealed that her next film would be based on the life of Franz Kafka, a German-speaking Bohemian Jewish writer who died in obscurity in 1924 at the age of 40 from tuberculosis.
As president of the EFA, Holland will be replaced by French actress Juliette Binoche, who is due to be approved in the post on May 1.
Holland’s credits include In Darkness; Europa, Europa; A Secret Garden; Washington Square; The Third Miracle; To Kill a Priest; Total Eclipse; Copying Beethoven; Mr.Jones; and The Green Border.
The European Film Academy was founded in 1988 by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries), who was its first president.
(mk/gs)