2021 European Film Awards (EFA) go big for ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?,’ ‘The Father’ and ‘Flee’

Jasmila Žbanić’s Oscar-nominated Quo Vadis, Aida? led the 2021 European Film Awards (EFA) winners today with three: European Film, European Director and European Actress for Jasna Đuričić. 

Jasmila Žbanić, upon winning European Director for Quo Vadis, Aida?, said, “There are many women I’d like to thank today. And many men as well. I’ll start with Lina Wertmüller, who was an inspiration for us all.” Žbanić continued, saying “I would also like to thank all the women of Srebrenica. Then my mother, and my daughter. And of course the actors. Directors are nothing without their talent. I send you my dearest gratitute and love.”

Upon winning the top award, Žbanić said, “This film is dedicated to the women and mothers of Srebrenica. They found a way to build peace in a destroyed country. Women always need to find a solution to the mess created by men.”

“First of all I’d like to thank the crew, you are the best crew in the world. Then my family, my children and my husband,” said European Actress winner Jasna Đuričić, who continued, “And I’d like to thank Jasmila, you gave me something that is unique, a huge space to say everything I think and feel about former Yougoslavia. Jasmila, thank you. This award is for all victims and for mothers!”

Anthony Hopkins and Florian Zeller repeated their Oscar wins for The Father from earlier this year; Hopkins for acting and Zeller for screenwriting. Promising Young Woman, another Oscar winner, won the European Discovery FIPRESCI Prize.

Flee won all three of its nominations for European Animated Film and European Documentary as well as the European University Film Award.

Previously announced winners in the craft categories included Titane for Makeup & Hair, Great Freedom for Original Score and Cinematography, Ammonite for Costume Design and Unclenching the Fists for Editing.

Steve McQueen received the European Innovative Storytelling Award for his film collection Small Axe. “Small Axe is about a community getting together. I’d like to dedicate this award to the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy,” he said. Susanne Bier received the European Achievement in World Cinema Award and the European Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Márta Mészáros.

Several films went home empty-handed tonight, including Compartment No. 6, The Hand of God and The Worst Person in the World. Last year, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round swept the awards, winning European Film, European Director, European Screenwriter and European Actor. The film won the International Feature Film Oscar for Denmark and Vinterberg earned a Best Director Oscar nomination.

The European Film Academy is made up of over 4100 members. Here is the full list of winners.

European Film

Compartment No. 6
Quo Vadis, Aida? – WINNER
The Father
The Hand of God
Titane

European Director

Julia Ducournau, Titane
Radu Jude, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Paolo Sorrentino, The Hand of God
Jasmila Žbanić, Quo Vadis, Aida? – WINNER
Florian Zeller, The Father

European Actor

Yuriy Borisov, Compartment No. 6
Anthony Hopkins, The Father – WINNER
Vincent Lindon, Titane
Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian
Franz Rogowski, Great Freedom

European Actress

Jasna Đuričić, Quo Vadis, Aida? – WINNER
Seidi Haarla, Compartment No. 6
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World
Agathe Rousselle, Titane

European Screenwriter

Radu Jude, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Paolo Sorrentino, The Hand of God
Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, The Worst Person in the World
Jasmila Žbanić, Quo Vadis, Aida?
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, The Father – WINNER

European Comedy

Ninjababy – WINNER
The Morning After
The People Upstairs

European Documentary

Babi Yar. Context
Flee – WINNER
Mr Bachmann and His Class
Taming the Garden
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

European Animated Feature Film

Even Mice Belong in Heaven
Flee – WINNER
The Ape Star
Where Is Anne Frank
Wolfwalkers

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI

Beginning
Lamb
Playground
Pleasure
Promising Young Woman – WINNER
The Whaler Boy

European Short Film

Bella
Displaced
Easter Eggs
In Flow of Words
My Uncle Tudor – WINNER

European University Film Award

Apples
Flee – WINNER
Great Freedom
Happening
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Lux Audience Award

Flee
Great Freedom
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Eurimages Co-Production Award
Maria Ekerhovd

European Cinematography
Crystel Fournier for Great Freedom

European Editing
Mukharam Kabulova for Unclenching The Fists

European Production Design
Márton Ágh for Natural Light

European Costume Design
Michael O’Connor for Ammonite

European Makeup & Hair
Flore Masson, Olivier Afonso, Antoine Mancini for Titane

European Original Score
Nils Petter Molvær, Peter Brötzmann for Great Freedom

European Sound
Gisle Tveito, Gustaf Berger for The Innocents

European Visual Effects
Peter Hjorth, Fredrik Nord for Lamb

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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