1% SATIRE TRIANGLE OF SADNESS TAKES TOP CANNES HONOURS

Proving that the elite of the international film industry are a bit more self-aware than many believe, Ruben Östlund’s scathing satire on wealth and privilege Triangle of Sadness has earned the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

It is the second top honour for the Swedish director; in 2017, The Square wowed judges and audiences alike in its depiction of hubris amongst the wealthy upper class. In Triangle of Sadness, a yacht filled with models, millionaires, sycophants and trophy partners is cast adrift, forcing the survivors to reconstruct a desert-island society where money holds no power and beauty becomes the most valuable asset.  It features American star Woody Harrelson as the captain of the vessel.

Led by actor Vincent Lindon, the 2022 jury spread the love across the In Competition titles, with 10 of the eligible 21 films earning trophies. The included not one but two ties in key categories - Claire Denis’ South American-set drama Stars at Noon, with Margaret Qualley (pictured, right), and Lukas Dhont’s teenage tearjerker Close shared the Grand Prix, while Félix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s majestic yet personal drama The Eight Mountains and Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, in which a donkey experiences the best and worst of European society, both took home the Jury Prize.

Other notable winners were Iranian actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi for her role as the journalist tracking a brutal serial killer in the festival’s most controversial film, Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider; Gina Gammell and Riley Keough, who shared the Camera d’Or honour for their Native American coming-of-age drama, War Horse; Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s teen drama The Worst Ones, which secured the prestige Un Certain Regard Award; and, the latest from acclaimed director Mia Hansen-Løve, One Fine Morning, who revisits themes of infidelity and desire in One Fine Morning, starring Léa Seydoux.

The full list of winners from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival are:       

COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: “Triangle of Sadness,” Ruben Östlund
Grand Prix — TIE: “Stars at Noon,” Claire Denis AND “Close,” Lukas Dhont
Director: Park Chan-wook, “Decision to Leave”
75th Anniversary Special Award: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, “Tori & Lokita”
Actor: Song Kang-ho, “Broker”
Actress: Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, “Holy Spider” (pictured, right)
Jury Prize — TIE: “The Eight Mountains,” Félix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch AND “EO,” Jerzy Skolimowski
Screenplay: Tarik Saleh, “Boy From Heaven”

OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: “War Horse,” Gina Gammell and Riley Keough
Camera d’Or Special Mention: “Plan 75,” Hayakawa Chie
Short Films Palme d’Or:“The Water Murmurs,” Jianying Chen
Short Films Special Mention:“Lori,” Abinash Bikram Shah
Golden Eye Documentary Prize: “All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen
Queer Palm: “Joyland”

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Award: “The Worst Ones,” Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret
Jury Prize: “Joyland,” Saim Sadiq
Best Director Prize: Alexandru Belc, “Metronom”
Best Performance Prize — TIE: Vicky Krieps, “Corsage” (pictured, right) and Adam Bessa, “Harka”
Best Screenplay Prize: Maha Haj, “Mediterranean Fever”
Coup de Coeur Award: “Rodeo,” Lola Quivoron

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Europa Cinemas Label: “One Fine Morning,” Mia Hansen-Løve
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “The Mountain,” Thomas Salvador

CRITICS’ WEEK
Nespresso Grand Prize: “La Jauria,” Andres Ramirez Pulido
French Touch Prize: “Aftersun,” Charlotte Wells
GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: Urban Distribution, “The Woodcutter Story”
Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Zelda Samson, “Love According to Dalva” (pictured, right)

CINÉFONDATION
First Prize: A Conspiracy Man,” Valerio Ferrara
Second Prize: “Somewhere,” Li Jiahe
Third Prize — TIE: “Glorious Revolution,” Masha Novikova AND “Humans Are Dumber When Crammed Up Together,” Laurène Fernandez

LOST ILLUSION, ANNETTE LEAD WINNERS AT 47TH CESAR AWARDS

The 47th Cesar Awards have favoured the handsomely-mounted period drama Lost Illusions in its annual award ceremony at the Olympia Theatre in Paris on Friday night, in an event that respected global tensions and tempered the usual boisterous outpourings.

Xavier Giannoli’s adaptation of the classic Honoré de Balzac novel led the nomination pack with an impressive 15 nods, ultimately scoring trophies in seven categories, including Film, Cinematography, Supporting Actor (for Vincent Lacoste) and Male Newcomer (Benjamin Voisin; pictured, above). Giannoli was pipped in the Best Director category by Leos Carax for his Cannes Film Festival opener, Annette, a divisive artistic work that nevertheless won five Cesars, including visual effects and score.

Key categories were divided between a cluster of titles, including Aline (Best Actress for Valerie Lemercier; pictured, right); Living (Best Actor for Benoit Magimel); La fracture (Supporting Actress for Aissatou Diallo Sagna); and, Happening (Best Female Newcomer, Anamaria Vartolomei). Shut out of the awards roster were such high profile titles as Julia Ducornau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane; Paul Verhoeven’s incendiary satire Benedetta; and Bruno Dumont's journalist drama, France.

Australian actress Cate Blanchett was honoured with a special Cesar Award, presented to her by France’s own acting great, Isabelle Huppert. Blanchett spoke briefly in French, then English, acknowledging the prestigious award before putting the evening into perspective, saying, it was “difficult to think or speak about anything other than what's happening in Ukraine.” 

The night was also one of sombre reflection for the French industry. Xavier Dolan read a letter he had written about his close friend, the late actor Gaspard Ulliel, co-star of his 2016 movie, It’s Only the End of the World. Dolan addressed it to his grieving family, saying that “a mother’s love is more powerful than anything, stronger than life, than art even, and surely stronger than death.” Also honoured was iconic actor Jean-Paul Belmondo (pictured, left), the star of New wave classics Breathless and Pierrot le fou, who died in September at the age of 88.

The full list of the 47th Cesar Award winners:

Best Film: LOST ILLUSIONS, Xavier Giannoli, produced by Olivier Delbosc, Sidonie Dumas
ALINE Valerie Lemercier, produced by Edouard Weil, Alice Girard, Sidonie Dumas
ANNETTE Leos Carax, produced by Charles Gillibert
BAC NORD, Cedric Jimenez, produced by Hugo Selignac
HAPPENING, Audrey Diwan, produced by Edouard Weil, Alice Girard
LA FRACTURE, Catherine Corsini, produced by Elisabeth Perez
ONODA, 10,000 NIGHTS IN THE JUNGLE, Arthur Harari, produced by Nicolas Anthome, Lionel Guedj

Best Director: Leos Carax, ANNETTE
Valerie Lemercier, ALINE; Audrey Diwan, HAPPENING; Xavier Giannoli, LOST ILLUSIONS; Arthur Harari, ONODA, 10,000 NIGHTS IN THE JUNGLE; Julia Ducournau, TITANE

Best Actress: Valerie Lemercier, ALINE
Leila Bekhti, THE RESTLESS; Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, LA FRACTURE; Laure Calamy, UNE FEMME DU MONDE; Virginie Efira, BENEDETA; Vicky Krieps, SERRE MOI FORT; Lea Seydoux, FRANCE

Best Actor: Benoit Magimel, LIVING
Damien Bonnard, THE RESTLESS; Adam Driver, ANNETTE; Gilles Lellouche, BAC NORD; Vincent Macaigne, MEDECIN DE NUIT; Pio Marmai, LA FRACTURE; Pierre Niney, BOITE NOIRE

Best Cinematography: Christophe Beaucarne, LOST ILLUSIONS
Caroline Champetier, ANNETTE; Paul Guilhaume, PARIS 13TH DISTRICT; Tom Harari, ONODA, 10,000 NIGHTS IN THE JUNGLE; Ruben Impens, TITANE

Best Supporting Actress: Aissatou Diallo Sagna, LA FRACTURE
Jeanne Balibar, LOST ILLUSIONS; Celine de France, LOST ILLUSIONS; Adele Exarchopoulos, MANDIBULES; Danielle Fichaud, ALINE

Best Supporting Actor: Vincent Lacoste, LOST ILLUSIONS
Francois Civil, BAC NORD; Xavier Dolan, LOST ILLUSIONS; Karin Leklou, BAC NORD; Sylvain Marcel, ALINE

Best Female Newcomer: Anamaria Vartolomei, HAPPENING
Noee Abita, SLALOM; Salome Dewaels, LOST ILLUSIONS; Agathe Rousselle, TITANE; Lucie Zhang, PARIS 13TH DISTRICT

Best Male Newcomer: Benjamin Voisin, LOST ILLUSIONS
Sandor Funtek, SUPREMES; Sami Outalbadi, “UNE HISTOIRE D'AMOUR ET DE DESIR; Thimothee Robart, MAGNETIC BEATS; Matika Samba, PARIS 13TH DISTRICT

Best First Film: MAGNETIC BEATS, Vincent Mael Cardona
GAGARINE, Fanny Liatard, Jeremy Trouilh; LA NUEE, Just Philippot; LA PANTHEREE DES NEIGES, Marie Amiguet, Vincent Munier; SLALOM, Charlene Favier

Best Foreign Film: THE FATHER, Florian Zeller
COMPARTMENT NO. 6, Juho Kuho Kuosmanen; DRIVE MY CAR, Ryusuke Hamaguchi; FIRST COW, Kelly Reichardt;THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, Joachim Trier; PARALLEL MOTHERS, Pedro Almodovar

Best Original Screenplay: Arthur Harari, Vincent Poymiro, ONODA, 10,000 NIGHTS IN THE JUNGLE
Valerie Lemercier, Brigitte Buc, ALINE; Leos Carax, Ron Mael, Russel Mael, ANNETTE; Yann Gozlan, Simon Moutaïrou, Nicolas Bouvet-Levrard, BOITE NOIRE; Catherine Corsini, Laurette Polmanss, Agnes Feuvre, LA FRACTURE

Best Adapted Screenplay: Xavier Giannoli, Jacques Fieschi, LOST ILLUSIONS
Yael Langmann, Yvan Attal, “LES CHOSES HUMAINES; Audrey Diwan, Marcia Romano, HAPPENING; Celine Sciamma, Lea Mysius, Jacques Audiard, PARIS 13TH DISTRICT; Mathieu Amalric, SERRE MOI FORT

Best Animated Film: THE SUMMIT OF GODS, Patrick Imbert
EVEN MICE BELONG IN HEAVEN, Denisa Grimmova, Jan Bubenicek; LA TRAVERSEE, Florence Miailhe

Best Documentary: LA PANTHEREE DES NEIGES Marie Amiguet
ANIMAL, Cyril Dion; BIGGER THAN US, Flore Vasseur; DEBOUT LLES FEMMES! Gilles Perret, Francois Ruffin; INDES GALANTES!, Philippe Beziat

Best Original Score: Ron Mael, Russell Mael, ANNETTE
Guillaume Roussel, BAC NORD; Philippe Rombi, BOITE NOIRE; Rone, PARIS 13TH DISTRICT; Warren Ellis, Nick Cave, LA PANTHEREE DES NEIGES

Best Sound Editing: Erwan Kerzanet, Kaita Boutin, Mawence Dussere, Paul Haymans, Thomas Gauder, ANNETTE
Olivier Mauvezin, Arnaud Rolland, Edouard Morin, Daniel Sobrino, ALINE; Nicolas Provost, Nicolas Bouvet-Levrard, Marc Doisne, BOITE NOIRE; Francois Musy, Renaud Musy, Didier Lozahic, LOST ILLUSIONS; Mathieu Descamps, Pierre Bariaud, Samuel Aïchoun, MAGNETIC BEASTS

Best Editing: Nelly Quettier, ANNETTE
Simon Jacquet, BAC NORD; Fredric Baillehaiche, LA FRACTURE; Cyril Nakache, LOST ILLUSIONS

Best Costumes: Pierre-Jean Laroque, LOST ILLUSIONS
Catherine Leterrier, ALINE; Pascaline Chavanne, ANNETTE; Madeline Fontaine, DELICIEUX; Thierry Deletre, EIFFEL

Best Set Design: Riton Dupire-Clement, LOST ILLUSIONS
Emmanuelle Duplay, ALINE; Florian Sanson, ANNETTE; Bertrand Seitz, DELICIEUX; Stephane Taillasson, EIFFEL

Best Visual Effects: Guillaume Pondard, ANNETTE
Sebastien Rame, ALINE; Olivier Cauwet, EIFFEL; Arnaud Fouquet, Julien Meesters, LOST ILLUSIONS; Martial Vallanchon, TITANE

A WORLD OF SCI-FI HONOURED AT SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL

Two stunning works of artistry and fantasy from young filmmakers from the Middle East have taken top honours at the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival award ceremony, held overnight at the Actors Centre Australia in the city’s inner-west.

The Ron Cobb Best Feature Film prize was awarded to SCALES, Shahad Ameen’s monochromatic masterpiece of patriarchal defiance hailing from the U.A.E.; the film was also nominated for Best Director and Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film. The Best Short Film honour went to the night’s only dual honouree, THE FABRICATED, from young Iranian director Ali Katmiri. The alternate-reality thriller also earned Best Lead Actress in a Short Film for Sonya Esmaeeli, whose acceptance speech (provided only moments before the event) acknowledged fellow students of acting the world over.

The festival’s goal of bringing a vast international science fiction program roster to Sydney audiences was reinforced, with movies from Italy, Spain, France, Japan and Australia all factoring in the night’s list of winners. Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film went to Denise Fantucci, star of Italian director Emanuela Rossi’s DARKNESS, for her role as the defiant eldest child of a father determined to keep three sisters away from a world he assures them is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Spanish actor Javier Botet, whose remarkable physique and gentle performance was a perfect fit for the alien visitor in co-directors Juan Gonzalez and Nando Martinez’s QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS, won Best Lead Actor in a Feature.

Directorial honours went to Yuichi Kondo for A.I-themed romancer RYOKO’S QUBIT SUMMER, already bearing the laurels of several festival wins throughout the year; and, to Baptiste Rouvere, whose ANONYMOUS ANIMALS is building momentum as the most buzzed-about horror/fantasy offering on the global circuit.

The biggest cheers of the evening were, of course, saved for the Australian winners. Genre legend Vernon Wells, an iconic film presence since he terrified audiences 39 years ago as the mohawked ‘Wez’ in George Miller’s Mad Max 2, earned the Best Actor in a Short Film gong for STARSPAWN: OVERTURE, the alien abduction action/thriller that also earned nominations for Best Short Film and Best Director (Short) for Travis Bain.

The all-important Audience Award was bestowed upon the inaugural festival’s Opening Night pic, Mark Toia’s killer-robot action epic, MONSTERS OF MAN, which makes its global online platform debut on December 8. 

The full list of winners and nominees are:    

BEST LEAD ACTRESS in a Feature Film
WINNER: DENISE TANTUCCI (‘Stella’ in DARKNESS; pictured, below)
YUHO YAMASHITA (‘Stereo’ in FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE)
ZARLIA CHISHOLM (‘Maisey’ in STRANGEVILLE)
MIYUU TESHIMA (‘Arika’ in HIDE & SNIFF)
BRUNA CUSI (‘Berta’ in QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS)
BASSIMA HAJJAR (‘Hayat’ in SCALES)

BEST LEAD ACTRESS in a Short Film
WINNER: SONYA ESMAEELI (‘Copy 1’ in THE FABRICATED)
AMELIA CONWAY (‘Alyssa’ in ALYSSA)
EMILY WROLSON (‘Z’ in WAKE ME UP)
SHEILA IVY TRAISTER (‘Sheila’ in REWIND)
NURIA DEULOFEU (‘Niky’ in POLVOTRON 500)
LISE RISOM OLSEN (‘Q’ in Q: GHOSTLY REMOTE EFFECT)

BEST LEAD ACTOR in a Feature Film
WINNER: JAVIER BOTET (‘Javi’ in QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS)
FINT (‘Mono’ in FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE)
DAVID COOK (’Bruce’ in STRANGEVILLE)
VITO LEO (‘Myles’ in STRANGEVILLE)
KOUTA FUDAUCHI (‘Kouka’ in HIDE & SNIFF)
RINAL MUKHAMETOV (‘Victor’/’The Architect’ in COMA)

BEST LEAD ACTOR in a Short Film
WINNER: VERNON WELLS (‘Randolph’ in STARSPAWN: OVERTURE; pictured, below)
DAVID DOUKHAN (‘Isaac’ in TRANSFERT)
AYMEN BEN HAMIDA (‘Slim’ in MAGNUM OPUS)
LEVI BURGESS (‘Brodie’ in MILK)
DAVID GYASI (‘Elijah’ in LIVING THINGS)
KRIS MAVERICKO (‘Kurt’ in AFTER_LIFE)

BEST DIRECTOR Short Film
WINNER: YUICHI KONDO (RYOKO’S QUBIT SUMMER, Japan)
MERIAM KHEMMASSI (MAGNUM OPUS, Tunisia)
TRAVIS BAIN (STARSPAWN: OVERTURE, Australia)
ALI KATMIRI (THE FABRICATED, Iran)
RICHARD DE CARVALHO (A BLASTER IN THE RIGHT HANDS, Australia)
TRISH HARNETIAUX (YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND, U.S.A)

BEST SHORT FILM
WINNER: THE FABRICATED (Iran)
SPACE PROBE PASSENGER (Poland)
RYOKO’S QUBIT SUMMER (Japan)
AFTER_LIFE (Singapore)
STARSPAWN: OVERTURE (Australia)
THE DAR(k)WIN PROJECT (France)

BEST DIRECTOR Feature Film
WINNER: BAPTISTE ROUVERE (ANONYMOUS ANIMALS, France)
FINT (FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE, Germany)
EMANUELA ROSSI (DARKNESS, Italy)
KOUSUKE HISHINUMA (HIDE & SNIFF, Japan)
JUAN GONZALEZ & NANDO MARTINEZ (THE QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS, Spain)
SHAHAD AMEEN (SCALES, UAE)

BEST FEATURE FILM
WINNER: SCALES (UAE)
MONSTERS OF MAN (Australia)
DARKNESS (Italy)
FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE (Germany)
ANONYMOUS ANIMALS (France)
STRANGEVILLE (Australia)
HIDE & SNIFF (Japan)
THE QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS (Spain)
COMA (Russia)
TUNE INTO THE FUTURE (Luxembourg)

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER:
MONSTERS OF MAN (Australia, Dir: Mark Toia)

PARASITE, BEANPOLE LEAD HONOUREES AT 2019 ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

Adding further momentum towards anticipated Oscar glory, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite has claimed Best Feature Film at the 13^th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) last night in Brisbane, Australia. The breakout international success story of 2019 turned its single nomination into the night’s biggest prize, the first win for Korea in the Best Feature Film category since Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine took out the inaugural prize in 2007.

Producer Jang Young-hwan accepted the award (pictured, below), a unique handcrafted glass vessel by Brisbane artist Joanna Bone, on the night. The honour also comes as the Asia Pacific Screen Forum, running concurrently with the awards festivities, focuses on 100 years of Korean cinema.

Stories encompassing thirteen countries and areas within the vast Asia Pacific region were awarded, with the majority of the winners also being their country’s Official Submission for the Academy Awards® in the Best International Feature Film Category. Thirty-seven films from 22 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific region achieved nominations for the prestigious awards, drawn from the 289 films in APSA competition.

The Australian sector was honoured with the Best Youth Feature Film, the prize taken out by Rodd Rathjen’s Buoyancy, produced by Causeway Films’ Sam Jennings and Kristina Ceyton. The Khmer and Thai language film, shot in Cambodia, is the story of 14 year-old Cambodian Chakra who leaves home in search of a better life only to be enslaved on a fishing trawler. Co-directors Rachel Leah Jones and Phillipe Bellaiche’s Advocate, an Israeli production that recounts the story of Jewish Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel, beat the only other local nominee, Daniel Gordon’s The Australian Dream, for the Best Documentary trophy.

Director Kantemir Balagov’s Russian wartime drama Beanpole was the only film to take home two APSA awards - Best Cinematography honouree Ksenia Sereda (pictured, right), the first woman to win the APSA in this category, and Balagov and Alexander Terekhov for Best Screenplay. Best Director winner Adilkhan Yerzhanov, helmer of the Kazakh noir feature A Dark, Dark Man, was the focus of the Director’s Chair session at the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Forum and accepted the award on the night. It is his second award following the APSA NETPAC Development Prize win in 2013 (now the Young Cinema Award) for Constructors.

Acting trophies will be travelling to new homes in The Philippines and India. Max Eigenmann won Best Actress for her role as a woman fighting to free her life of domestic violence in Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s Verdict, for acclaimed producer Brilliante Mendoza. Celebrated Indian actor Manoj Baypayee earned Best Actor honours for his role in Devashish Makhija’s Bhonsle; Bajpayee’s win, his second APSA gong, marks a staggering four years in a row that an Indian performer has won in this category.

Beating out highly favoured fellow nominees The Unseen and Mosley, Weathering With You (Japan) was named Best Animated Feature. The film is directed by Makoto Shinkai, who also took home the inaugural APSA in this category in 2007 for 5 Centimetres Per Second.

The APSA International Jury awarded a Jury Grand Prize to Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman, who wrote, directed, produced and starred in APSA-nominated film It Must Be Heaven. Suleiman was also awarded the APSA Jury Grand Prize in 2009 for The Time That Remains. The prestigious Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO was awarded to Rona, Azim’s Mother (Islamic Republic of Iran; Afghanistan) by brothers Jamshid and Navid Mahmoudi. This award represents APSA’s founding partnership with UNESCO, and the shared goals of the two organisations in the protection and preservation of cultural identity.

The winner of the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film goes to Katriel Schory, one of the most respected figures of Israeli cinema. Schory produced more than 150 titles through is production company BelFilms Ltd and served for twenty years as Executive Director of Israel’s main film funding body, where he produced and promoted 300 films. He is credited with revitalising Israel’s film industry through an emphasis on diversity and international co-production treaties, opening the country’s cinema up to the global audiences.

The APSA Young Cinema Award has been won by emerging Indian filmmaker Ridham Janve whose feature The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain (pictured, above) was also nominated for Best Feature Film and Achievement in Cinematography.

Also announced during the APSA Ceremony were the four recipients of the 10^th MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. Created to support the development of new feature film projects by APSA Academy members, the fund awards four development grants of US$25,000 annually. In 2019, the four recipients are Delphine Garde-Mroueh & Nadia Eliewat (UAE/France) for The Station; Rachel Leah Jones (Israel/United States of America) for Reality Check; Catherine Fitzgerald (New Zealand) for Sweet Lips; and, Dechen Roder (Bhutan) for I, The Song.

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY WARMS TO COLD WAR

Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War earned top honours at the 31^st European Film Awards (EFA), held on December 15 in Seville, Spain. The Polish filmmaker’s tragic love story, loosely based on the turbulent and rebellious life led by his parents, took home five of the top categories before a live audience of 1,600 guests and industry figures at the historic Teatro de la Maestranza.

In addition to the Best European Film award, the Polish/French/U.K. co-production secured Best Director and Best Screenwriter trophies for Pawlikowski (pictured, above), returning to the winner’s podium for the first time since 2014, when his film Ida dominated the ceremony. “I’d like to thank my parents for living a disastrous and ultimately beautiful life,” said the 61 year-old filmmaker, who also acknowledged the unified front represented by those present. “Today we celebrate our differences, we unite in our diversity. Europe is not one voice, but a choir of different voices.”

Slated as Poland’s entry in the Best Foreign Film Oscar category, the monochromatic drama also won Best Actress for Joanna Kulig, and Best Editing for Jarosław Kamiński. The EFAs add to a growing list of accolades for Cold War that include the Cannes Film Festival Best Director award and the Best Foreign Film honour from America’s National Board of Review. 

The film was denied an EFA clean sweep when leading man Tomasz Kot lost to Marcello Fonte for his understated performance in Matteo Garrone’s Dogman. which also found favour in the Costume and Hair & Make-Up categories. Martin Otterbeck won Best Cinematographer for the Norwegian drama Utøya: July 22, a harrowing survival tale based upon the mass shooting at the political summer camp in 2011.

Other winners included Lukas Dhont’s Girl for European Discovery; Jane Magnusson’s Bergman- A Year in a Life for Best Documentary; Another Day Of Life from directors Damian Nenow and Raúl De La Fuente for Best Animated Feature; Andrey Ponkratov for his production design on Summer (Leto); sound designers André Bendocchi-Alves and Martin Steyer 
for the German film The Captain; and, visual effects veteran Peter Hjorth for his work on Ali Abbasi’s Border.

Honorary EFAs were bestowed upon beloved Spanish actress Carmen Maura, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Oscar-winning Greek auteur Costa-Gavras (Z, 1969; Missing, 1982), who accepted the EFA Honorary Award. The audience-voted People’s Choice EFA went to Luca Guadagnino’s coming-of-age romance Call Me By Your Name.

The shadow cast by the United Kingdom’s ‘Brexit’ movement was addressed by two of the most respected and outspoken statesmen of Britain’s film community. Upon receiving the Best European Comedy award for The Death of Stalin, writer/director Armando Iannuci earned big laughs when he stated, “This is a European film. I’m Scottish/Italian, shot mostly in England, were financed by the French, did a lot of our post-production in Belgium. It just shows what a good idea it is if different countries in Europe come together to work with the British. Let’s call it a European community, a European union. I’m going to take the idea back to the United Kingdom this evening.”

Past Best Actor EFA winner Ralph Fiennes (Sunshine, 1999), present to accept the honorary European Achievement in World Cinema award, was harsher in his condemnation of his homeland’s current political climate. “Can I be English and European? Emphatically yes. There is a crisis in Europe and our feeling of family, of connection and of shared history, shared wounds - this feeling is threatened by a discourse of division. In England now, there is only the noise of division.”

In line with the sense of celebration central to the kudocast, Fiennes ended on a hopeful note. “But the expression in a film can be a window for us to see another person, another human experience,” he said. “We can celebrate our differences of custom and common humanity at the same time.”