The European Film Academy (EFA) Awards for 2021 were presented on Saturday night in Berlin at a gala held again in hybrid format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was broadcast live on the Internet.
Co-production “Where are you going, Aida? “, made with Romanian participation, is the big winner, with awards in the top categories, including the best European film.
The award for best director went to the Bosnian filmmaker of this feature film, Jasmila Zbanic.
Also, the protagonist of the same film, Jasna Duricic, was rewarded with the award for best actress.
“Where are you going, Aida?” is a co-production of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Norway, Germany, Romania, Turkey. The action took place in Bosnia on 11 July 1995.
Aida is a translator for the United Nations in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army conquers the city, her family is among the thousands of people seeking refuge in the UN camp. Being a person inside the negotiations, Aida has access to crucial information that she has to interpret.
What is on the horizon for her family and people – salvation or death? What should he do? – summarizes the EFA website, according to Agerpres.
As at the Oscars, Anthony Hopkins was awarded the Best Actor Award for his portrayal of a dementia patient in “The FatherThis film won the award for best screenplay for its authors, the Frenchman Florian Zeller and the Portuguese Christopher Hampton.
Co-production “Nanu Tudor“, directed by the Moldovan filmmaker based in Belgium Olga Lucovnicova, triumphed as the best European short film.
”Flee”, another co-production, was twice awarded at this 34th edition of the EFA Awards, presented by actress Annabelle Mandeng at Arena Berlin.
The film directed by the Dane Jonas Poher Rasmussen won the best animated film and the best documentary film.
And Norwegian production ninjababy was declared the best European comedy of the year.
Danish director Susanne Bier, one of the few filmmakers physically present at the Berlin Arena, received the Honorary Award for “European Achievements in World Cinema”. The 61-year-old Bier, who won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 with the film ”In a Better World“(In a Better World), she was also the first woman to receive the director’s trophy at the European Film Awards in the same year.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Hungarian director Marta Meszaros, 90. This is the first time that the European Film Academy has awarded this prestigious prize to a filmmaker from Central or Eastern Europe.
The European Film Academy Awards are among the most prestigious awards in the industry.
The more than 3,800 Berlin-based EFA members vote the majority of the winners of these awards, as do the Oscars in the United States.
The gala, which takes place alternately in the German capital and in another European metropolis, was for the second time in a row an edition broadcast mainly from Berlin, due to sanitary conditions.
LIST of winners, in order of their presentation on www.europeanfilmawards.eu:
Best Movie – Quo Vadis, Aida?
The best comedy – NinjaBaby
European Discovery – FIPRESCI Award – Emmerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
Best Documentary – Flee / Flugt
The best animated film – Flee / Flugt
Best Short Film – My Uncle Tudor / Nanu Tudor
Best Director – Jasmila Zbanic for Quo Vadis, Aida?
Best Actress – Jasna Duricic for Quo Vadis, Aida?
Best Actor – Anthony Hopkins for The Father
Best Screenwriter – Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton for The Father
Best Image Director – Crystel Fournier for Great Freedom / Grosse Freiheit
Best Editing – Mukharam Kabulova for Unclenching the Fists / Razzhimaya Kulaki
Best Set Designer – Marton Agh for Natural Light / Termeszetes Feny
Best Costume Designer – Michael O’Connor for Ammonite
Makeup and hairstyle – Flore Masson, Olivier Afonso, Antoine Mancini for Titans
Best Composer – Nils Petter Molvaer, Peter Brotz-Mann for Great Freedom / Grosse Freiheit
Best Sound Designer – Gisle Tveito, Gustaf Berger for The Innocents / De Uskyldige
Best visual effects – Peter Hjorth, Fredrik Nord
Career Award – Marta Meszaros
European achievements in world cinema – Susanne Bier
European University Film Award – Flee / Flugt
Innovative Stories – Steve McQueen for Small Axes
