For 38 years, the European Film Awards have offered a more meritorious form of recognition than their flashier US cousin, the Oscars. This year’s honourees included such adventurous works as Óliver Laxe’s post-apocalyptic thriller Sirāt, Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident, and Dog of God, an animated Swedish horror comedy featuring a “historical” werewolf and Satan’s testicles.
Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, a tale of a Norwegian filmmaker’s awkward interactions with his unhappy family, was the biggest winner, taking six prizes, including that for best film.
The 2026 Berlin-based bash – which takes place in that northeastern German municipality every other year – marked a gamble for the continent’s preeminent movie gongs. This refers to the switch from the traditional pre-Christmas slot into the bustling breach of “awards season”, nestled between the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
It’s a big move for a big organisation. The European Film Academy (EFA) now boasts more than 5,400 members, from more than 50 countries across Europe. In this international spirit, the Cork International Film Festival hosted a livestream of the shindig.
The awards, regardless of calendar date, retain a European character, from beautifully curated montages by Irish artist and writer Mark Cousins to an appearance by Marlene Dietrich’s hat.
Many attendees were still at the bar when the 10-minute call was announced at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Ninety minutes into the proceedings, EFA CEO Matthijs Wouter introduced a half-hour booze break. The returning audience was enlivened by fake snowfall in the auditorium. They later received a potato each, in honour of the late French film director Agnès Varda (those tubers were often referenced in her work). You don’t see that in Hollywood.
Ahead of a politically-charged ceremony, Mike Downey, the chair of the EFA, cited the academy’s keen “…sense of social and political responsibility”. The Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi followed with a warning that “…silence is participation in darkness”.
Óliver Laxe accepts the European Editor award on behalf of Cristóbal Fernández for the movie Sirât at the 38th European Film Awards in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Panahi, who was recently handed a prison sentence on charges of creating propaganda against the political system, spoke to the “normalisation of violence” in his native country and beyond. “When the truth is crushed in one place, freedom suffocates everywhere,” he said. “Then no one is safe anywhere in the world. Not in Iran. Not in Europe. Not in America.”
David Bennent, the former child star of The Tin Drum, a German classic from 1979, carefully evoked violence against children in Israel on October, 7th, 2023 and in Gaza.
The prizes warmed to the theme. On Falling, Laura Carreira’s searing indictment of wage slavery at an Amazon-alike warehouse, took home the Discovery Award. Palestine was represented across several categories, including nods for Kamal Aljafari’s documentary Hasan in Gaza, Kaouther Ben Hania’s feature The Voice of Hind Rajab, and the short films Man Number 4 and The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing.
EFA President Juliette Binoche paid extravagant tribute to actor, director, and Ingmar Bergman collaborator, Liv Ullmann. “Thank you for being so alive,” said the French star. Ullman, who received the European Lifetime Achievement Award, spoke of movies as runes and took a swipe at Donald Trump.
“I’m Norwegian,” she said. “We gave the Nobel Prize to someone… and then it goes to someone else?”
Alice Rohrwacher lifted the night’s second career acknowledgement, the European Achievement in World Cinema Award.
As expected, Stellan Skarsgård was named best European actor for his turn as the problematic patriarch in Sentimental Value. In a moment of category jiggery-pokery, his co-star Renate Reinsve (wearing the night’s only wimple) won best European actress for what is effectively a supporting role.
Sentimental Value nabbed the two end-of-evening prizes: best director and film. But it didn’t quite achieve the clean sweep expected by many commentators. Spanish production designer Laia Ateca won over Trier’s drama for Sirāt. Óliver Laxe’s nailbiting film also triumphed in the sound, editing, and cinematography categories. As a notable counterpoint to rival American statuettes, Sirāt became the first film to receive the inaugural European Award for its casting directors, Nadia Acimi, Luís Bértolo, and María Rodrigo.
Torsten Witte, head of the makeup and hair department for Bugonia, scored this year’s only win for the Dublin-based production juggernaut Element Pictures. Brendan Canty’s Cork-based coming-of-age tale, Christy, remains in contention for the LUX Audience Award, with its win to be determined by a 50/50 split of votes from EU citizens and Members of the European Parliament.
European Film Awards 2026 winners –
European Film: Sentimental Value
European Cinematographer: Mauro Herce for Sirāt
European Director: Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value
European Composer: Hania Rani for Sentimental Value
European Documentary: Fiume o Morte!, dir. Igor Bezinović
European Casting Director: Nadia Acimi, Luís Bértolo and María Rodrigo for Sirāt
European Screenwriter: Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value
European Editor: Cristóbal Fernández for Sirāt
European Sound Designer: Laia Casanovas, Amanda Villavieja and Yasmina Praderas for Sirāt
European Make-up and Hair Artist: Torsten Witte for Bugonia
European Actress: Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value
European Actor: Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value
European Animated Feature Film: Arco (France), directed by Ugo Bienvenu
European Production Designer: Laia Ateca for Sirāt
European Costume Designer: Sabrina Krämer for Sound Of Falling
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI: On Falling (United Kingdom, Portugal), directed by Laura Carreira
European Young Audience Award: Siblings (Italy), directed by Greta Scarano
European Short Film – Prix Vimeo: City of Poets, directed by John Smitha