Anatomy of a Fall, the film by Justine Triet that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival last May, has been the great winner of the European Film Awards held this Saturday in Berlin. The judicial thriller that dissects the relationship of a couple -she, a successful German writer accused of his death-, and that the French director wrote with her husband, Arthur Harari, during the pandemic, has won four of the five awards for which it aspired: film, direction, script and actress for the extraordinary performance of Sandra Hüller. The German actress, who did a double in this category for her role as the wife of an Auschwitz commander in The Zone of Interest, has asked the public for a minute of silence to imagine a world in peace.
Fallen leaves, by Aki Kaurismäki, and the film about the Holocaust by Glazer, with six nominations each and also in competition in the official Cannes section, have been unable to do anything in the face of the hurricane represented by Triet’s masterful film, which has arrived hit Spanish theaters this week and is the best European film of the year. The French director and screenwriter wanted to thank her producer for the award for believing in her and supporting her and also had words for her team that has been in the shadows. Previously, Triet already went on stage, put on her glasses and read on her mobile the words of gratitude for best director and co-writer: “I wanted to put the focus on a couple, where everything is a negotiation and Arthur and I survive the process” – he joked, and then disappeared to let Harari, present by videoconference, speak.
The gala, which lasted more than three hours, recognized the good moment of Spanish cinema. Especially Robot dreams, by Pablo Berger, named best animated film. Also released in theaters on December 6, the film tells a beautiful and emotional story of silent friendship between a dog and a robot in New York in the 1980s. A happy Berger has taken the stage to claim, remembering the same words of Guillermo del Toro, that animation is not a genre, it is cinema. “It’s my mantra and I’m not going to stop until the industry treats us as equals.”
Right after his speech, there was more applause for Spanish cinematography. The actress Laia Costa, dressed in black, with short gelled hair and pregnant, has dedicated some beautiful words of admiration to Isabel Coixet, honored with the European Achievement in World Cinema award “for her impressive contribution to the world of cinema” . Costa, who has recently worked with Coixet on Un amor, has praised the director as a reference for women filmmakers and her willingness to always help them open doors.
Coixet assured in his speech that he soon realized in his career that behind the camera “there are no limits, no borders or passports. I wish the world were like that,” he confessed. And he has proudly dedicated the award to all those directors who have been rejected “for not being good enough, controversial, interesting, or commercial enough.” Looking at the statuette that she had in her hand, she assured that it looked like “a sex toy” and laughingly asked the Academy to “include batteries” for next year.
In addition to Coixet, the European Film Academy has also honored the work of producer Uljana Kim with the Eurimages International Co-production Award and that of Turkish philanthropist and businesswoman Güler Sabanc? with the European Sustainability Award. The other two honorary awards went to the renowned Hungarian director, screenwriter and actor Béla Tarr, applauded by a standing audience, and to the veteran British actress Vanessa Redgrave, who was unable to attend Berlin and thanked the distinction by videoconference. accompanied by her daughter Joely Richardson.
And more recognitions – although they were already known previously – for The Snow Society, by J.A. Bayona, which has won the awards for Makeup and Hairstyling, for Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé, and for Visual Effects, for Félix Bergés and Laura Pedro. The latter has collected the award from Antonio Saura.
The British Molly Manning Walker has ended up beating the Basque Estíbaliz Urresola in the category of the FIPRESCI European Discovery Award for How to have sex, a drama about sex and consent in adolescence that already impressed at the Cannes festival, where it won in the Un Certain Regard Section. 20,000 Species of Bees, Urresola’s debut film, celebrated its world premiere at the last Berlinale, where its protagonist, Sofía Otero, won the Silver Bear for best performance. The story about a trans girl is up for a total of 15 nominations for the next Goya Awards.
There has been no luck in the best short film category either. Although two of the five nominated works were Spanish (Aqueronte, by Manuel Muñoz Rivas, and The Luminous Wound, by Christian Avilés), in the end Hard Working was the winner.
The Danish Mads Mikkelsen has been recognized as best actor for his work in The Promised Land and Scrapper, by British newcomer Charlotte Regan, has won the Young Audience award.
The award for best documentary, the first to be awarded, went to an emotional Anna Hints for Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, a co-production between Estonia, France and Iceland that places us in the darkness of a Finnish sauna, where women share their secrets and more intimate experiences. The director came out on stage and instead of thanking the Academy for its recognition in words, she began to sing with amusement, accompanied by part of her team, who sang choruses from the seats.
