UPDATE: Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? was the big winner at the 34th European Film Awards tonight. The story of a woman’s fight to save her family during the true events of the 1995 Bosnian War genocide in Srebrenica scooped the top European Film prize as well as European Director for Žbanić and European Actress for Jasna Đuričić. (Scroll down for the full list of winners.)
Quo Vadis, Aida? was nominated for an Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards and its triumph tonight was indicative of how the European Film Academy leaned this year. While the EFAs can be somewhat predictive of the Oscar for Best International Feature, this evening’s ceremony saw a fair bit of crossover from the 2021 Oscars.
Other winners that had already achieved Oscar recognition included Florian Zeller’s The Father which repeated with wins for Anthony Hopkins as European Actor and for Zeller and Christopher Hampton’s screenplay.
Those nods left this year’s International Feature Oscar submissions out in the cold including Julia Ducournau’s Titane (France), Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God (Italy), Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6 (Finland), Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn (Romania) and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World (Norway).
However, gaining momentum, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee (Denmark) scooped two prizes at the EFAs tonight: European Animated Feature and European Documentary. It is vying for the shortlist in both Oscar categories, as well as International Feature.
Žbanić became the third woman ever to win the Directing honor at the EFAs, and upon taking the top Film prize, she said, “The whole team is so grateful for such an amazing honor, all our 10 co-producers from 10 European countries. This film is dedicated to women and mothers of Srebrenica.” Noting that during the conflict, “sons, husbands and fathers — three generations of men” were “exterminated because of their names,” she added, “The women of Srebrenica find a way to build peace in a completely destroyed country; women always have to fix the mess made by man. I dedicate this award to the women of Srebrenica and to the mothers who taught us how to turn destruction into love. I hope it will encourage more female solidarity, female stories, female perspective in films, in politics and in life.”
She continued, “Films are a powerful force that can make us more compassionate, more understanding and more capable to grasp the complexity of life. We have the responsibility to give our audience the truth. Though it might be a hard one, and not the most profitable one, we need more complex stories in order to make our audience ready for a very complex time ahead of us.”
PREVIOUS, 10:06 AM PT: The 34th European Film Awards are about to kick off in a hybrid format from Berlin. Overseen by the European Film Academy, the awards were initially due to take place in a small physical ceremony with nominees in attendance, but those plans shifted earlier this month due to rising Covid numbers in Germany. Actress and writer Annabelle Mandeng is hosting the event, which will still be broadcast from the Arena Berlin studio and include live online and pre-produced elements. She will be joined by a handful of other presenters and honorees at the site.
Among nominees, Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Titane; Florian Zeller’s 2020 drama and double Oscar winner The Father; and Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?, which was nominated for an Oscar at the 93rd edition, are tied with four mentions each coming into the evening.
Titane is the Oscar submission from France this year and, likewise, several other candidates for the International Feature Academy Award figure at the EFAs. They include Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6, from Italy and Finland, respectively. Each of those films, alongside the titles above, is nominated in the European Film 2021 category, and both figure in three races.
Last year, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round swept the EFAs, taking Best European Film, Director, Actor and Screenwriter — before going on to win the Oscar for Best International Feature.
We’ll be following the proceedings live, so check back for updates as the winners are posted below.
EUROPEAN FILM
Quo Vadis, Aida?, dir: Jasmila Žbanić
EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY
Flee, dir: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
EUROPEAN ACTRESS
Jasna Đuričić – Quo Vadis, Aida?
EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION AWARD
Maria Ekerhovd
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR
Jasmila Žbanić – Quo Vadis, Aida?
EUROPEAN DISCOVERY – PRIX FIPRESCI
Promising Young Woman, dir: Emerald Fennell
EUROPEAN ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Flee, dir: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER
Florian Zeller & Christopher Hampton – The Father
EUROPEAN SHORT FILM
My Uncle Tudor, dir: Olga Lucovnicova
EUROPEAN ACTOR
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
EUROPEAN COMEDY
Ninjababy, dir: Yngvild Sve Flikke
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
European Cinematography
Crystel Fournier – Great Freedom
European Editing
Mukharam Kabulova – Unclenching The Fists
European Production Design
Marton Agh – Natural Light
European Costume Design
Michael O’Connor – Ammonite
European Make-Up & Hair
Flore Masson, Olivier Alfonso, Antoine Mancini – Titane
European Original Score
Nils Petter Molvaer, Peter Brotz-Mann – Great Freedom
European Sound
Gisle Tveito, Gustaf Berger – The Innocents
European Visual Effects
Peter Hjorth, Fredrik Nord – Lamb
European Lifetime Achievement
Marta Meszaros
European Achievement in World Cinema
Susanne Bier
European University Film Award
Flee, dir: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
EFA For Innovative Storytelling
Steve McQueen – Small Axe