The French “Anatomy of a Fall” received the main awards of the European Film Academy

86-year-old Vanessa Redgrave, awarded “For Lifetime Achievement,” did not come to Berlin

The 36th European Film Academy Awards ceremony, which is often called the equivalent of the Oscars, took place in Berlin. It brought together 1 thousand guests, nominees and film academics from different countries. “Anatomy of a Fall” by the Frenchwoman Justine Trieu received five awards – “Best European Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Screenplay” (Justine Trieu wrote it during quarantine with her husband Arthur Harari), “Best Actress” (German actress Sandra Hüller), “Best Editing” (Lauren Soneschal).

The office of the European Film Academy is located in Berlin, where awards are presented in odd years, and in even years – in other European countries. In 2024, the award ceremony will take place in Sweden.

The president of the film academy since 2021 is Polish director Agnieszka Holland, whose film “Green Border” was also among the nominees. At the award ceremony, Holland said that in the ranks of film academics there are many filmmakers from countries that have become zones of military conflicts, but cinema should remain a territory of peace.

For many years, European film academics have given the main awards to one film, sometimes surprising with their choice. Now it is “Anatomy of a Fall” by the Frenchwoman Justine Trieu, and a year ago it was “The Triangle of Sadness” by the Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who received four awards in Reykjavik, including for the role of a Russian oligarch who became rich from manure, performed by the Croatian actor Zlatko Buric.

Anatomy of a Fall was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May. And then the circle came full circle: it was awarded by a jury led by two-time winner of this award, Ruben Östlund. Six years ago, his “Square,” like “Triangle of Sadness,” received the Palme d’Or and then five European Film Academy awards, including the prize for Best European Film.

This is the third time in the history of the Cannes Film Festival that the Palme d’Or has gone to a female director. Before Trieu, it was received by Jane Campion from New Zealand in 1993 for “The Piano” and Frenchwoman Julia Ducorneau in 2021 for “Titan.”

The main role in Anatomy of a Fall was played by the magnificent German actress Sandra Hüller, who already received the European Film Academy prize in 2016 for her role as her daughter in the film Toni Erdmann, which also collected almost all the major awards. This year, Sandra Hüller was mentioned twice in the same category “Best Actress” – also in “Zone of Interest” by British director Jonathan Glazer about the family of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Hösse, happily living next to the death camp. So Sandra Hüller won, in addition to her competitors, and herself.

In Anatomy of a Fall, she played the popular writer Sandra Voiter. Together with her husband, also a writer, although not as successful, they live secludedly in the French Alps. A prosperous existence will collapse after the mysterious death of a spouse who fell out of a window. Sandra will be left alone with her 11-year-old visually impaired son and become a murder suspect.

“You can look at the film as a typical whodunnit, looking at the question ‘Who did it?'” said Justine Trieu. – But I think that this is more a picture about a couple. I was interested in using a murder trial as a pretext to help open up relationships in a family where there is a common child, but no common language.”

Among the nominees (Best Film, Best Director) was the Finnish classic Aki Kaurismäki with Fallen Leaves. But his traditional prizes have passed, although he still makes high-class films. The heroes of his film meet in Helsinki to the music of Tchaikovsky and news reports from Mariupol.

The second favorite of the year in terms of the number of awards was “The Sword of the King” by Danish director Nikolai Arcel, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The film was awarded for Best Actor (Mads Mikkelsen), Best Cinematography (Rasmus Videbæk) and Best Costume Design (Kiki Ylander). The film is based on real events and tells about the brave knight and simple man Ludwig Kalen, played by Mads Mikkelsen. According to Nikolai Arcel, he filmed about how our desires and ambitions fail if there is nothing behind them.

Mikkelsen’s triumph in 2020 is still vivid in my memory, when the film with his participation “One More by One” by Thomas Vinterberg, representing Denmark, received the prizes of the European Film Academy and became an absolute triumph. And Mikkelsen was then named best European actor. And the ceremony itself was held online due to the pandemic.

“The Sword of the King” has been nominated by Denmark for the Oscar in the “Best International Film” category. And French filmmakers preferred “Anatomy of a Fall” to “A Recipe for Love” by Tran Anh Hung, starring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel, which will represent the country at the Oscars if it gets nominated.

Film academics awarded 86-year-old British actress Vanessa Redgrave “for lifetime achievements.” She was unable to come to the ceremony and limited herself to a video message. For her contribution to world cinema, the award was given to the Spanish director with her special artistic world, Isabel Coixet (“The Secret Life of Words,” “My Life Without Me,” “Bookshop”). The Hungarian classic, an outstanding director of our time, Bella Tarr, was awarded an honorary prize from the President and Board of the European Film Academy.