The Norwegian drama “Sentimental Value” won best film at the European Film Awards, the continent’s equivalent to the Academy Awards, in Berlin on Saturday.
The film, which focuses on the tumultuous relationship between an actress and her film-director father, dominated the ceremony, coming away with six awards, including best director for Joachim Trier, best actress for Renate Reinsve and best actor for Stellan Skarsgard, who last weekend won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for his performance.
The European Film Awards were created in 1988 with the aim of drawing attention to European film. Film professionals across the continent vote on the awards.
Although the ceremony remains less well known than other European film events, like the BAFTA Awards in Britain and prominent festivals in Venice and Cannes, France, it has raised its profile in recent years through popular screening events across Europe. This year, organizers moved the event to January from December in the hopes of increasing its visibility for Oscar voters.
The European Film Awards have not historically been predictive of the Oscars. “Sentimental Value” and its two of competitors for best European film — the French-Spanish film “Sirat” and “It Was Just an Accident,” from the Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi — are considered long-shot contenders for best picture at the Academy Awards, whose nominations will be announced Jan. 22.
In winning best director, Trier, whose previous film, “The Worst Person in the World,” was nominated for two Oscars in 2022, beat out Panahi, Yorgos Lanthimos for “Bugonia,” Oliver Laxe for “Sirat” and Mascha Schilinski for “Sound of Falling.”
In his acceptance speech, Trier said the experiences of his grandfather, a filmmaker who was imprisoned during World War II as a member of the Norwegian resistance, had led him to value the “infrastructure” now supporting European film. Trier also won for the film’s screenplay, which he wrote with his longtime collaborator Eskil Vogt.
In accepting the award for best European actress, Reinsve, who is from Norway, said her character, an actress who shares a deep bond with her younger sister, was “heavy to carry.” She thanked her two sisters who, she said, were “the ones taking care of me when we grew up.”
“Sirat,” a harrowing film set in the Moroccan desert, won five awards, including for cinematography, sound design and editing. “Sound of Falling,” from Germany, won for best costume design. The best documentary award went to “Fiume O Morte!,” about the 1919 occupation of the Croatian city of Rijeka.
The ceremony was more sprawling and high-minded than many of its U.S. counterparts. Amid homages to European film history and a playful bit in which the daughter of the French filmmaker Agnès Varda handed out potatoes to attendees, it included several pointed mentions of geopolitics.
In accepting a lifetime achievement award, the Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann criticized the recent decision by the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to give her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump.
“I know that in Norway we have laws that say if you misuse a Nobel Prize, we take it away from you,” she said from the stage.
In remarks that opened the ceremony, Panahi addressed the current unrest in Iran, which he described as “one of the most bitter and history-making periods in its history.”
“The entire world is at risk when violence, left unanswered, becomes normalized,” he said.
In December, Iran sentenced Panahi in absentia to a year in jail for “propaganda activities.” He has said that he plans to return to the country despite the verdict.
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