Europe Has Selected Its Best Cinematographic Achievements Of The Year

Last week European cinema was celebrating its greatest achievements of the year. The 33rd European Film Awards went live as a series of virtual events on December 8-12, streaming and broadcasting video conferences with nominees and winners. Though normally every second year the ceremony took place in Berlin or in any other European city on every other year.

Awards presented in 23 categories were determined by the EFA Members votes (more than 3,800 members of the European Film Academy - filmmakers from across Europe) or a special excellence awards jury. In order to enter the competition, the films should have been awarded at major festivals, received acclaim at international festivals and been theatrically released for at least seven consecutive days in at least three countries or sold for such release.

In the majority of key categories (Best European Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor) triumphed Another Round (Druk) directed by Thomas Vinterberg. "With this movie, we want to examine and salute alcohol’s ability to set people free. The film is inspired by the Norwegian psychologist Finn Skårderud’s theories that man is born with a 0.5 blood alcohol level shortfall. We want to create a tribute to alcohol but it goes without saying we also want to paint a nuanced picture. Embedded in our examination of the essence of alcohol lies an acknowledgement that people die from - and are destroyed by - excessive drinking. An existence with alcohol generates life, but it also kills," explains Vinterberg.

So Martin (Mads Mikkelsen - winner of The Best European Actor award) and his three friends, all high school teachers, embark on an experiment to maintain a constant level of intoxication throughout the workday. Both their classes and their results continue to improve, but some bold acts carry consequences.

Another Round was competing with other five great films in the Best European Film nomination: Berlin Alexanderplatz, Corpus Cristi, Martin Eden, The Painted Bird and Undine.

The award for the Best European Comedy went to The Big Hit directed by Emmanuel Courcol, the Best Documentary - to Collective by Alexander Nanau, which emphasizes the impact of investigative journalism through the case of a fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv club in 2015. Meanwhile the Award for the Best European Actress was handed to Paula Beer for her role of Undine in Christian Petzold's film Undine, which replays an allegory of the betrayed woman of the waters.

See the full list of winners here.

For the first time the EFAs this year also included the announcement of the nominations for the LUX European Audience Film Award, presented by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy and in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas. This year the nominees are Another Round, Collective and Corpus Cristi.

These three nominated films will be subtitled in all the 24 EU languages to be accessible to the widest audience possible. After a “watch & vote” period (from mid-December to mid-April) during which the nominated films will be screened, and rated online at www.luxaward.eu, the recipient of the new award will be determined by the general public and the Members of the European Parliament (each holding 50% of the vote). The winner will be announced in a ceremony in the European Parliament on 28 April 2021.

Source: europeanfilmawards.eu