Sentimental Value triumphs at the European Film Awards
- Joachim Trier's film wins six awards including European Film, and Óliver Laxe's Sirāt follows hot on its heels with five awards
It’s been a year of major changes for the European Film Academy, marked by the rescheduling of the European Film Awards (read our news), which were moved to January at the height of the international awards season, in order to offer greater visibility to European contenders. It’s also been one of the most exciting run-ups to the ceremony in recent memory, with many of last year’s strongest European titles emerging as potential winners in various categories and raising expectations of a more equally distributed set of awards. However, the 38th edition of the awards, held on Saturday 17 January at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, ultimately saw one title steal most of the spotlight.
Joachim Trier’s Cannes Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] emerged as the uncontested winner of the night, taking a total of six awards home, including Best European Film, Best European Director, Best European Screenwriter (for Trier and his longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt), and Best European Composer (awarded to Hania Rani for her original score), as well as dominating both acting categories, with Best Actor going to Stellan Skarsgård and Best Actress to Renate Reinsve. “I've been longing for a sense of collectiveness my whole career […] I think we're at a key moment when we all have to remember that the other is not our enemy, and that art can help us to come together with strangers to create empathy in the darkness. We can laugh and cry in cinemas. So this is also a plea to keep cinemas alive because it’s the place where many of us grew up and learned about being human”, insisted Trier during his acceptance speech. A touching exploration of family and the power of cinema, Trier’s film has enjoyed an exceptional run since its world premiere in Cannes and has been selected as Norway’s official entry for the Oscars.
The other standout winner at the ceremony was Sirāt [+see also:
film review
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interview: Óliver Laxe
interview: Sergi López
film profile] by Óliver Laxe, which followed Sentimental Value closely with five awards, excelling in most of the technical categories. Laxe’s third feature, the winner of the Jury Prize in Cannes, won Best European Cinematography (for Mauro Herce’s work), Best European Editing (for Cristóbal Fernández), Best European Production Design (for Laia Ateca), Best European Casting Director (for the collective efforts of Nadia Acimi, Luís Bértolo and María Rodrigo), and Best European Sound Design (for Laia Casanovas, Amanda Villavieja and Yasmina Praderas). Laxe’s intense road trip through the desert also stands a strong chance of securing an Oscar nomination after being selected as Spain’s official submission.
Other novelties introduced by the European Film Academy this year included a total overhaul of the gala proceedings, with the former Excellence Awards (covering all the arts and crafts categories) announced during the ceremony itself. The event was curated by director Mark Cousins (The Story of Film: An Odyssey and the recent winner of the Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe for A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things [+see also:
film review
interview: Mark Cousins
film profile]), who turned the ceremony into a proper artistic experience and served as master of ceremonies. Cousins was joined by German film composer Dascha Dauenhauer, who was responsible for the gala’s music, and theatre director Robert Lehniger, who oversaw the staging, delivering a refreshing ceremony which celebrated the history of cinema and paid homage to a number of its masters.
Following on from the changes implemented last year, films nominated in the European Documentary and Animated Feature Film categories were once again eligible for Best European Film, bringing the total number of contenders in the main category to fifteen. In the end, Fiume o Morte! [+see also:
film review
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interview: Igor Bezinović
interview: Igor Bezinović
film profile] by Croatia's Igor Bezinović won Best European Documentary, while Arco [+see also:
film review
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interview: Ugo Bienvenu
film profile] by French director Hugo Bienvenu scooped the Best European Animation award. The other leading nominees of the night, Sound of Falling [+see also:
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interview: Mascha Schilinski
film profile] by Masha Schilinski and Bugonia [+see also:
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film profile] by Yorgos Lanthimos (competing in nine and six categories, respectively), managed to secure only one win each: Best European Costume Designer for Sabrina Krämer - active in the field for some decades now - thanks to her work on Sound of Falling, and Best European Make-up & Hair Artist for Torsten Witte’s contribution to Lanthimos’s satire.
Surprisingly, the latest Palme d’Or winner, It Was Just an Accident [+see also:
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interview: Jafar Panahi
film profile] by Jafar Panahi, which received three nominations, returned home empty-handed, as did The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
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interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] by Kaouther Ben Hania, which was selected in two categories. The Iranian master did, however, open the gala with a heartfelt speech on the current situation in Iran and the need to stand up and speak out against injustice, earning himself a standing ovation: “The responsibility of us filmmakers and artists today is more important than ever. If we have lost faith in politicians, at the very least, we must not remain silent. Because silence in times of crime is not neutrality; silence is taking part in the darkness. So let us not remain silent”.
Rounding out the winners’ list at the 38th European Film Awards, On Falling [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Laura Carreira
interview: Laura Carreira
film profile], the social drama by Portugal’s Laura Carreira (awarded the Silver Shell for Best Director at San Sebastián last year), received the European Discovery FIPRESCI Prize for Best European First feature Film; Siblings [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Italian filmmaker Greta Scarano won the European Young Audience Award, presented by teenage representatives of the European Film Club, while City of Poets by Sara Rajaei, which premiered in the 2024 Berlinale Shorts programme, took home the European Short Film Vimeo Prize, which she dedicated to the people of Iran and to her brother in one of the most heartfelt moments of the evening.
As previously announced, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Norwegian legend Liv Ullmann by Juliette Binoche, President of the European Film Academy, in recognition of her remarkable body of work as an actress, director, and screenwriter. Her collaborations with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage) catapulted her to global fame, and over her long career she has received countless accolades in honour of her enduring contributions. “I’ve been thinking about runes lately. Thousands of years ago, people carved their stories into stone. It took a long time, but they did it. They told us who we are as human beings. The longer I’ve been in theatre and film, the more I’ve come to feel that we are the ones today writing the runes for the future”, Ullmann enthused when accepting the award.
This year, the European Achievement in World Cinema Award was given to Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher, acknowledging her inspiring and deeply personal creative work, which includes acclaimed films such as Happy as Lazzaro [+see also:
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interview: Alice Rohrwacher
film profile] and her most recent movie, La Chimera [+see also:
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film profile]. This tribute also recognised her longstanding collaboration with producer Carlo Cresto-Dina (Tempesta). Echoing Ullmann’s words, Rohrwacher reflected upon receiving the award: “Thank you, Liv, for reminding us that we are the ruins of the future. I have studied archaeology enough to realise that, across the millennia, what often remains is not the monument, not the centre, but the neglected detail: the edge of a fresco, a small pot thrown away by chance. So Liv’s speech made me think that, yes, we must pay attention to the edges of things. We must pay attention to context,” she said, before expressing her gratitude to her producer and the “love of her life,” her sister and frequent collaborator Alba Rohrwacher, and underscoring the importance of sustaining the film industry as a whole: “I want to make clear to those who finance cinema that the funding doesn’t go to a director, it goes to a community”.
Finally, the Eurimages Co-Production Award was presented to German producers Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, and Janine Jackowski (Komplizen Film) in recognition of their exceptional track record, which includes some of the most celebrated European films of the past decade, such as Toni Erdmann [+see also:
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Q&A: Maren Ade
film profile] by Maren Ade herself, Corsage [+see also:
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interview: Marie Kreutzer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
film profile] by Marie Kreutzer (who handed them the award), and none other than the night’s big winner, Sentimental Value.
Watch our red carpet coverage on our Instagram account and Facebook account.
The list of winners:
European Film
Sentimental Value [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] - Joachim Trier (Norway/France/Denmark/Germany/Sweden)
European Documentary
Fiume o morte! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igor Bezinović
interview: Igor Bezinović
film profile] - Igor Bezinović (Croatia/Slovenia/Italy)
European Animated Feature Film
Arco [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ugo Bienvenu
film profile] - Ugo Bienvenu (France)
European Director
Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
European Actress
Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
European Actor
Stellan Skarsgård - Sentimental Value
European Screenwriter
Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI
On Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Carreira
interview: Laura Carreira
film profile] - Laura Carreira (UK/Portugal)
European Young Audience Award
Siblings [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Greta Scarano (Italy)
European Casting Director
Nadia Acimi, Luís Bértolo, María Rodrigo – Sirāt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Óliver Laxe
interview: Sergi López
film profile] (Spain/France)
European Cinematographer
Mauro Herce – Sirāt
European Composer (Original Score)
Hania Rani – Sentimental Value
European Costume Designer
Sabrina Krämer – Sound of Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mascha Schilinski
film profile] (Germany)
European Editor
Cristóbal Fernández – Sirāt
European Make-up & Hair Artist
Torsten Witte – Bugonia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Ireland/UK/USA/South Korea)
European Production Designer
Laia Ateca – Sirāt
European Sound Designer
Laia Casanovas, Amanda Villavieja, Yasmina Praderas – Sirāt
European Short Film – Prix Vimeo
City of Poets - Sara Rajaei (Netherlands)
Eurimages Co-Production Award
Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski (Komplizen Film)
European Achievement in World Cinema Award
Alice Rohrwacher
Lifetime Achievement Award
Liv Ullmann
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