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| Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller both won acting prizes for Toni Erdmann. |
Maren Ade became the first female director to win the top prize at the European Film Awards' 29 year history as her offbeat comedy Toni Erdmann swept away the competition.
The film, which tells the tale of a father's madcap attempts to reconnect with his daughter on a visit, was named best film as well as picking up the directing and writing awards for Ade, while its stars Sandra Hüller and Peter Simonischek were named best actress and actor.
The almost-as-offbeat A Man Called Ove - a comedy about a widower's failed attempts to kill himself - was named best European comedy, while the discovery prize went to Hannes Holm's boxing drama The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki.
Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea was named best documentary, while the animation award went to My Life As A Zucchini.
In a call for unity that was echoed by several filmmakers across the night, Ade said: “I feel great luxury to make films at a time when we’re going through such crisis but I believe films can cross borders and easily transform the unfamiliar into empathy."
Pierce Brosnan, who won an honorary award said: “Faith, hope, courage, truth. In these turbulent times, more than ever we must come together as artists and filmmakers to try to make sense of what’s happening in our countries, nations.
“To all you young men and women out there … keep good strength, keep good faith, whatever the politics of your nation is, be truthful to yourself."
The full list of nominees and winners is below:
BEST EUROPEAN FILM
- Elle, (Paul Verhoeven; France, Germany)
- I, Daniel Blake, (Ken Loach; UK, France)
- Julieta, (Pedro Almodóvar; Spain)
- Room, (Lenny Abrahamson; Ireland, Canada)
- WINNER: Toni Erdmann, (Maren Ade; Germany, Austria)
BEST EUROPEAN DIRECTOR
- WINNER: Maren Ade, (Toni Erdmann)
- Pedro Almodóvar (Julieta)
- Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake)
- Cristian Mungiu, (Graduation)
- Paul Verhoeven (Elle)
BEST EUROPEAN ACTOR
- Javier Cámara, (Truman)
- Hugh Grant, (Florence Foster Jenkins)
- Dave Johns, (I, Daniel Blake)
- Burghart Klaußner, (The People vs. Fritz Bauer)
- Rolf Lassgård, (A Man Called Ove)
- WINNER: Peter Simonischek, (Toni Erdmann)
BEST EUROPEAN ACTRESS
- Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, (Like Crazy)
- Trine Dyrholm, (The Commune)
- WINNER: Sandra Hüller, (Toni Erdmann)
- Isabelle Huppert, (Elle)
- Emma Suárez & Adriana Ugarte, (Julieta)
BEST EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER
- Rolf Lassgård, (A Man Called Ove)
- WINNER:Maren Ade, (Toni Erdmann)
- Emma Donoghue, (Room)
- Paul Laverty, (I, Daniel Blake)
- Cristian Mungiu, (Graduation)
- Tomasz Wasilewski, (United States Of Love)
BEST EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY
- 21 X New York, (Piotr Stasik; Poland)
- A Family Affair, (Tom Fassaert; the Netherlands, Belgium)
- WINNER: Fire At Sea, (Gianfranco Rosi; Italy, France)
- Mr Gaga, (Tomer Heymann; Israel, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands)
- S is for Stanley – 30 Years At The Wheel For Stanley Kubrick, (Alex Infascelli; Italy)
- The Land Of The Enlightened, (Pieter-Jan De Pue; Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands)
BEST EUROPEAN ANIMATED FEATURE
- WINNER: My Life As A Zucchini, (Claude Barras, France, Switzerland)
- Psiconautas, The Forgotten Children, (Pedro Rivero, Alberto Vázquez, Spain)
- The Red Turtle (Michael Dudok de Wit, Japan, France, Belgium)
BEST EUROPEAN COMEDY
- WINNER: A Man Called Ove, (Hannes Holm; Sweden, Norway)
- Look Who’s Back (David Wnendt; Germany)
- One Man And His Cow, (Mohamed Hamidi; France)
FIPRESCI PRIZE – BEST EUROPEAN DISCOVERY
- Dogs, (Bogdan Mirica; France, Romania, Bulgaria, Qatar)
- Liebmann (Jules Herrmann; Germany)
- Sand Storm, (Elite Zexer; Israel)
- WINNER: The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki, (Juho Kuosmanen; Finland, Sweden, Germany)
- Thirst, (Svetla Tsotsorkova; Bulgaria)
EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY FILM AWARD
- Fire At Sea
- Graduation
- WINNER: I, Daniel Blake
- The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki
- Toni Erdmann
BEST EUROPEAN SHORT
- 90 Degrees North (Detsky Graffam; Germany)
- WINNER: 9 Days – From My Window In Aleppo (Thomas Vroege, Floor van der Meulen, Issa Touma; Netherlands, Syria)
- Amalimbo (Juan Pablo Libossart; Sweden, Estonia)
- A Man Returned (Mahdi Fleifel; Netherlands, Denmark, Lebanon, UK)
- Edmond (Nina Gantz; UK)
- Home (Daniel Mulloy; Kosovo, UK)
- I’m Not From Here (Giedrē Žickytē, Maite Alberdi; Lithuania, Denmark, Chile)
- In The Distance (Florian Grolig; Germany)
- Limbo (Konstantina Kotzamani; Greece, France)
- Shooting Star (Lyubo Yonchev; Italy, Bulgaria)
- Small Talk (Even Hafnor, Lisa Brooke Hansen; Norway)
- The Fullness Of Time (Romance) (Manon Coubia; France, Belgium)
- The Goodbye (Clara Roquet; Spain)
- The Wall (Samuel Lampaert; Belgium)
- We All Love The Sea Shore (Keina Espiñeir; Spain)
EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA
Maren Ade and Sandra Hüller talk about Toni Erdmann
