In a significant boost to its awards season campaign in North America, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” dominated the 2024 European Film Awards. A Netflix acquisition for the United States and Oscar contention, the unconventional musical took five awards, including European Film, European Director (Audiard), European Screenwriter (Audiard), European Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), and Editing (Juliette Welfling). Notably, “No Other Land” and “Flow” won European Documentary and European Animated Film respectively.
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Gascón’s historic win makes her the first trans actress to win a European Film Award category. Abou Sangare was a surprise winner for European Actor for his performance in “Souleymane’s Story.” A Guinean immigrant to France, Sangare also took the Best Actor prize for the film in the Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes this past May.
While the membership crossover between The European Film Academy, which constitutes the European Film Awards, is not as significant as, say, BAFTA and AMPAS, there is crossover. This should alleviate at least some concerns of “Perez” fading substantially in the Oscar race. The polarizing film, which won key prizes at Cannes, should still have enough international support for major nominations. On the flip side, this was a disappointing evening for Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door,” which, despite four nominations, went home completely empty-handed.
Latvia’s International Film Oscar submission “Flow” won European Animated Film. Gints Zilbalodis‘ second feature is shaping up as a legit contender to take the Animated Feature Oscar from “The Wild Robot” or “Inside Out 2.”
“No Other Land,” the West Bank-centered doc, capped off an incredible week after being named Best Documentary by not only the European Film Academy but also the New York Film Critics Circle, the Gotham Awards, and the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards.
Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel’s “Armand,” Norway’s entry for the International Film Oscar, won the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI honor.
This should be the last year the European Film Awards are handed out in December. The European Film Academy plans to push the annual ceremony to January beginning in 2026 to align closer to Oscar season.
The complete list of winners and nominees is as follows:
Best European Film
BYE BYE TIBERIAS (BYE BYE TIBERIADE) (France, Belgium, Palestine, Qatar) – documentary film, directed by Lina Soualem, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan, Guillaume Malandrin & Ossama Bawardi
DAHOMEY (France, Senegal) – documentary film, directed by Mati Diop, produced by Eve Robin, Judith Lou-Lévy & Mati Diop
EMILIA PÉREZ (France) – feature film, directed by Jacques Audiard, produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valérie Schermann & Anthony Vaccarello – ***WINNER***
FLOW (STRAUME) (Latvia, France, Belgium) – animated feature film, directed by Gints Zilbalodis, produced by Matīss Kaža, Gints Zilbalodis, Ron Dyens & Gregory Zalcman
IN LIMBO (W ZAWIESZENIU) (Poland) – documentary film, directed by Alina Maksimenko, produced by Filip Marczewski
LIVING LARGE (ŽIVOT K SEŽRÁNÍ) (Czech Republic, France, Slovakia) – animated feature film, directed by Kristina Dufková, produced by Matej Chlupacek, Agata Novinski & Marc Faye
NO OTHER LAND (Palestine, Norway) – documentary film, directed by Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal, produced by Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor & Hamdan Ballal
SAVAGES (SAUVAGES) (Switzerland, France, Belgium) – animated feature film, directed by Claude Barras, produced by Nicolas Burlet, Laurence Petit, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta, Vincent Tavier, Hugo Deghilage, Annemie Degryse & Olivier Glassey
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT (France, Belgium, Netherlands) – documentary film, directed by Johan Grimonprez, produced by Daan Milius & Rémi Grellety
SULTANA’S DREAM (EL SUEÑO DE LA SULTANA) (Spain, Germany, India) – animated feature film, directed by Isabel Herguera, produced by Chelo Loureiro, Diego Herguera, Fabian Driehorst, Mariano Baratech & Iván Miñambres
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR (Spain) – feature film, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, produced by Agustín Almodóvar & Esther García
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (DANAYE ANJIR-E MOABAD) (Germany, France) – feature film, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, produced by Mohammad Rasoulof, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon, Mani Tilgner & Rozita Hendijanian
THE SUBSTANCE (UK, United States, France) – feature film, directed by Coralie Fargeat, produced by Coralie Fargeat, Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner
THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER (Spain, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Peru) – animated feature film, directed by Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, produced by Cristina Huete, Serge Lalou, Sophie Cabon, Bruno Felix, Janneke van de Kerkhoff, Femke Wolting & Humberto Santana
VERMIGLIO (Italy, France, Belgium) – feature film, directed by Maura Delpero, produced by Francesca Andreoli, Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli, Santiago Fondevila Sancet & Maura Delpero
Best European Documentary
BYE BYE TIBERIAS (BYE BYE TIBERIADE) (France, Belgium, Palestine, Qatar), directed by Lina Soualem, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan, Guillaume Malandrin & Ossama Bawardi
DAHOMEY (France, Senegal), directed by Mati Diop, produced by Eve Robin, Judith Lou-Lévy & Mati Diop
IN LIMBO (W ZAWIESZENIU) (Poland), directed by Alina Maksimenko, produced by Filip Marczewski
NO OTHER LAND (Palestine, Norway), directed by Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal, produced by Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor & Hamdan Ballal – ***WINNER***
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT (France, Belgium, Netherlands), directed by Johan Grimonprez, produced by Daan Milius & Rémi Grellety
European Director
Andrea Arnold for BIRD
Jacques Audiard for EMILIA PÉREZ – ***WINNER***
Pedro Almodóvar for THE ROOM NEXT DOOR
Mohammad Rasoulof for THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Maura Delpero for VERMIGLIO
Best Actress
Renate Reinsve in ARMAND
Karla Sofía Gascón in EMILIA PÉREZ – ***WINNER***
Trine Dyrholm in THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
Vic Carmen Sonne in THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
Tilda Swinton in THE ROOM NEXT DOOR
Best Actor
Franz Rogowski in BIRD
Ralph Fiennes in CONCLAVE
Lars Eidinger in DYING
Daniel Craig in QUEER
Abou Sangare in SOULEYMANE’S STORY – ***WINNER***
Best Screenplay
Jacques Audiard for EMILIA PÉREZ – ***WINNER***
Magnus von Horn & Line Langebek for THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
Pedro Almodóvar for THE ROOM NEXT DOOR
Mohammad Rasoulof for THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Coralie Fargeat for THE SUBSTANCE
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI
ARMAND (Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden), directed by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, produced by Andrea Berentsen Ottmar – ***WINNER***
HOARD (UK), directed by Luna Carmoon, produced by Loran Dunn, Helen Simmons & Andrew Starke
KNEECAP (Ireland, UK), directed by Rich Peppiatt, produced by Patrick O’Neill, Trevor Birney & Jack Tarling
SANTOSH (UK, France, Germany), directed by Sandhya Suri, produced by Mike Goodridge, James Bowsher, Roman Paul, Gerhard Meixner, Carole Scotta & Eliott Khayat
THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME (ANUL NOU CARE N-A FOST) (Romania, Serbia), directed and produced by Bogdan Mureșanu
TOXIC (AKIPLĖŠA) (Lithuania) directed by Saulė Bliuvaitė, produced by Giedre Burokaite
European Young Audience Award
LARS IS LOL (Norway, Denmark), directed by Eirik Sæter Stordahl, produced by Caroline Hitland & Matilda Appelin
THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN (Norway), directed by Benjamin Ree, produced by Ingvil Giske – ***WINNER***
WINNERS (Germany), directed by Soleen Yusef, produced by Sonja Schmitt, Marc Schmidheiny & Christoph Daniel
Best European Animated Film
FLOW directed by Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia, France, Belgium) – ***WINNER***
LIVING LARGE directed by Kristina Dufková (Czech Republic, France, Slovakia)
SAVAGES directed by Claude Barras (Switzerland, France, Belgium)
SULTANA’S DREAM directed by Isabel Herguera (Spain, Germany, India)
THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal (Spain, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Peru)
Best European Short Film
2720 directed by Basil da Cunha (Portugal, Switzerland)
CLAMOR directed by Salomé Da Souza (France)
THE EXPLODING GIRL directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel (France)
THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT directed by Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia, France, Bulgaria, Slovenia) – ***WINNER***
WANDER TO WONDER directed by Nina Gantz (The Netherlands, France, Belgium, United Kingdom)
European Achievement in World Cinema
Isabella Rossellini
Several below-the-line winners, decided by an eight-member industry jury, were announced in November. They include:
European Editing
Emilia Pérez (Juliette Welfling) – ***WINNER***European Production Design
The Girl With the Needle (Jagna Dobesz) – ***WINNER***European Costume Design
The Devil’s Bath (Tanja Hausner) – ***WINNER***European Make-up & Hair
When the Light Breaks (Evalotte Oosterop) – ***WINNER***European Original Score:
The Girl With the Needle (Frederikke Hoffmeier) – ***WINNER***
European Sound
Souleymane’s Story (Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aïchoun, Rodrigo Diaz) – ***WINNER***European Visual Effects
THE SUBSTANCE (Bryan Jones, Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky, Chervin Shafaghi, Guillaume Le Gouez) – ***WINNER***