26/01/2026 - Spanish director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa wins the festival’s Grand Prize, while Deaf by fellow Spaniard Eva Libertad and The Last One for the Road by Samuel Kircher also scoop accolades

Victory was claimed in the 38th Angers European First Film Festival by Sundays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile], directed by Spanish filmmaker Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, to whom the jury chaired by director Thomas Cailley (and further composed of Laura Wandel, India Hair and Antoine Reinartz) awarded the European Feature Film Competition’s Grand Prize. Previously crowned in San Sebastián, a victor in Montpellier’s Cinemed Festival and also nominated 13 times in the upcoming Goya Awards, the movie will be released in France by Le Pacte (acting as co-producer and international sales agent) on 11 February.

Another Spanish title standing out on the winners’ list is Deaf [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Libertad
film profile] by Eva Libertad, which scooped both the Audience Award (having previously charmed the Berlinale Panorama crowd) and the Best Actress trophy (for Miriam Garlo), and which will be released in French cinemas on 1 April by Condor Distribution.

Also worth noting is the Special Jury Mention (for the film and for its trio of actors) claimed by Italian director Francesco Sossai’s The Last One for the Road [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Sossai
film profile] (unveiled in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section), which is due for French release on 1 April via New Story, and the Best Actor Award won by France’s Samuel Kircher for his performance in Belgian filmmaker Valéry Carnoy’s Wild Foxes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valéry Carnoy
film profile] (which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight and is released in France on 18 March via Jour2Fête).

The Audience Award in the Diagonales section (focused on especially bold works) went to the documentary Autostop by Swiss filmmaker Roman Hüben.

Finally, future cinema was also on the agenda in the form of the festival’s script-reading prizes, with the feature-length trophy going to Une de perdue, une de perdue by Mathilde Elu (produced by Films Grand Huit). The story revolves around Camille who rushes into love and scares off the women she meets. She should be taking her time but that’s not an option: in three weeks’ time, her friends are getting married and there’s no way she’ll be going along as the only singleton. So she decides to travel to the wedding, from Nantes to Crozon, on her tandem bike, determined to find a girlfriend along the way, feeling more frantic and freaked out than ever! With the biological clock ticking and global warming looming, the pressure is atmospheric.

The full list of winners is as follows:

European Feature Films

Grand Jury Prize
Sundays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile] - Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Spain/France)

Jury Special Mention
The Last One for the Road [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Sossai
film profile] - Francesco Sossai (Italy/Germany)

Jeanne Moreau Audience Award
Deaf [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Libertad
film profile] - Eva Libertad (Spain)

Bouvet Ladubay Best Actress Award
Miriam Garlo - Deaf

Bouvet Ladubay Best Actor Award
Samuel Kircher – Wild Foxes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valéry Carnoy
film profile] (Belgium/France)

Activités sociales de l’Énergie Award
Deaf - Eva Libertad

Diagonales

Audience Award
Autostop - Roman Hüben (Switzerland)

European Short Films

Grand Jury Prize
Eraserhead in a Knitted Shopping Bag – Lili Koss (Bulgaria)

Audience Award
With Tapes and Toasts in the Car – Kiana Naghshineh (France/Germany)

French short films

Grand Jury Prize
Don’t Wake the Sleeping Child – Kevin Aubert (France/Senegal/Morocco)

Jury Special Mention
Still Playing – Mohamed Mesbah (France)

Audience Award
Aux bains des dames – Margaux Fournier (France)

Best Actress Award
Branka Katić - Das Gaz (France)

Best Actor Award
Léandre Perrin - Léandre l’été (France)

Librarians' Award
Still Playing – Mohamed Mesbah

Film Schools

Grand Jury Prize
Skin on Skin – Simon Schneckenburger (Germany)

Jury Special Mention
Bimo – Oumnia Hanader (France)

Audience Award
Sous les ruines – Nadhir Bouslama (France)

Angers Students’ Award
Chaos et café froid – Joséphine Reboh (Belgium)

Animated Films

Audience Award
Hope is Lost – Eno Enefiok (United Kingdom/North Macedonia - short film)

Nef Animation Award
Winter In March – Natalia Mirzoyan (Estonia/Armenia/France - short film)

L’extra court Award
The Eating of an Orange – May Kindred-Boothby (UK - short film)

Script readings

Audience Award for Best Feature-Length Script
Une de perdue, une de perdue - Mathilde Elu (France)

Fondation Visio Award for Best Feature-Length Script
Une de perdue, une de perdue - Mathilde Elu

Audience Award for Best Short Film Script
Marcello se prend un train – Rock Brenner (France)

(Translated from French)