Cold War is hot at the European Film Awards

Best European Film winner Cold War

Pawel Pawlikowski's black and white love story Cold War has won in five categories including Best Film at this year's European Film Awards. Receiving the first of these, the director dedicated it to his parents, revealing that it was inspired by their story.

Several award recipients spoke of the importance of European Unity and made clear their unhappiness about Brexit, but there was nevertheless a win for Britain as Armando Iannucci took home the award for Best Comedy for The Death Of Stalin. Manwhile, Ralph Fiennes was awarded Best European Achievement in World Cinema.

Politics also came to the fore when Lucas Dhont received the FIPRESCI prize for Cannes hit Girl, which he dedicated to the young woman whose story inspired it. The film was been heavily criticised by trans people for having an outsider's perspective and making extensive use of clichés, with a heavy focus on genitals, but Dhont stated that he sees cinema as a bridge to understanding and empathy as essential to his craft. He stressed that he still wanted to see more trans-themed films made by trans people.

The ceremony took place in the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville.

Those awards in full:-

Best European Film

• Cold War

Best European Comedy

• The Death Of Stalin - Armando Iannucci

Best European Director

• Pawel Pawlikowski -Cold War

Best European Actress

• Joanna Kulig - Cold War

Best European Actor

• Marcello Fonte - Dogman

Best European Screenwriter

• Pawel Pawlikowski - Cold War

Best European Documentary

• Bergman – A Year In A Life

Best European Short Film

• The Years - Sara Fgaier

Best European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI

• Girl - Lukas Dhont

Best European Animated Feature Film

• Another Day Of Life - Raul de la Fuente, Damian Nenow

EFA People's Choice Award

• Call Me By Your Name - Luca Guadagnino

Best European Cinematographer

• Martin Otterbeck - U

Best European Editor

• Jaroslaw Kaminski - Cold War

Best European Production Designer

• Andrey Ponkratov - The Summer

Best European Costume Designer

• Massimo Cantini Parrini - Dogman

Best European Hair and Make-Up

• Dalia Colli, Lorenzo Tamburini, Daniela Tartari - Dogman

Best European Composer

• Christoph M. Kaiser and Julian Maas - 3 Days In Quiberon

Best European Ssound Designer

• Andre Bendocchi-Alves and Martin Steyer - The Captain

Best European Visual Effects Supervisor

• Peter Hjorth - Border

Best European Achievement in World Cinema

• Ralph Fiennes

EFA Lifetime Achievement Award

• Carmen Maura

Honorary Award Of The EFA President and Board

• Costa-Gavras

Best European Co-Production Award — Prix Euroimages

• Konstantinos Kontovrakis and Giorgos Karnavas