09/04/2018 - The 29th edition of the Austrian film and TV awards saw Elyas M'Barek win his second Romy as the audience’s favourite actor

Jeremy Miliker with his Award for Most Promising Actor for The Best of All Worlds (© APA/SepaMedia/Picturedesk)

As is customary, the 29^th edition of the Romy Awards for Austrian TV and film productions, organised by the daily newspaper Kurier and public broadcaster ORF, took place in two stages: first of all, the so-called “Academy” Romys were handed out by a jury of specialist journalists last week, and then the Romys decided on by the public were awarded at a gala ceremony held this past weekend. 

The top Romy went to The Best of All Worlds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Adrian Goiginger. Among the winners known to international audiences, we could mention DoP Christian Berger, who was honoured for the cinematography on Michael Haneke’s Happy End [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Michael Haneke
film profile] (Berger regularly teams up with Haneke, and lensed such films as The Piano Teacher [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Hidden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margaret Menegoz
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile] and the Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile]). Other internationally acclaimed names included Oscar- and Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff, who scooped the Best Television Director Award for his first crime film for TV, Der namenlose Tag.

This year, which marks the 80^th anniversary of the birth of Romy Schneider, the original inspiration for these trophies (which are made to resemble her as she appeared in La Piscine), women were most definitely in the limelight, as the Public’s Platinum Romy was bestowed upon actress Iris Berben. Meanwhile, actor Elyas M'Barek picked up his second Public Romy, for Suck Me Shakespeer 3 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Bora Dagtekin, which was number one in the Austrian box-office chart in 2017, with more than 500,000 viewers – it topped the chart in Germany as well, drawing in over six million viewers.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2018 Romy Film Awards:

Academy Romys

Best Film 
The Best of All Worlds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Adrian Goiginger (Austria/Germany)

Best Documentary
Die Zukunft ist besser als ihr Ruf [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Teresa Distelberger, Nico Mayr, Nicole Scherg, Gabriele Schweiger

Best Director 
Lars Montag - Sex, Pity and Loneliness [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Germany)

Best Screenplay 
Aleksandar Petrovic, Faris Rahoma, Arman T Riahi – The Migrumpies [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Cinematography
Christian Berger - Happy End [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Michael Haneke
film profile] (France/Germany/Austria)

Best Production
Thomas Hroch, Gerald Podgornik, Arnold Heslenfeld - Arthur & Claire [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Germany/Austria/Netherlands)

Most Promising Actor 
Jeremy Miliker – The Best of All Worlds

Most Promising Actress 
Marie-Luise Stockinger - Maria Theresia (TV mini-series)

Academy’s Platinum Romy for Lifetime Achievement
Christian Kolonovits (composer)

Public Romys

Most Popular Actor 
Elyas M'Barek – Suck Me Shakespeer 3 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Germany)

Most Popular Actress 
Nina Proll - Anna Fucking Molnar [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Platinum Romy for Lifetime Achievement 
Iris Berben

(Translated from French)