It\u2019s 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<\/a> International Film Festival hosted a livestream of the shindig. <\/p>\n 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\u2019s hat. <\/p>\n 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 Agn\u00e8s Varda (those tubers were often referenced in her work). You don\u2019t see that in Hollywood. <\/p>\n Ahead of a politically-charged ceremony, Mike Downey, the chair of the EFA, cited the academy\u2019s keen \u201c…sense of social and political responsibility\u201d. The Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi followed with a warning that \u201c…silence is participation in darkness\u201d. <\/p>\n Panahi, who was recently handed a prison sentence on charges of creating propaganda against the political system, spoke to the \u201cnormalisation of violence\u201d in his native country and beyond. \u201cWhen the truth is crushed in one place, freedom suffocates everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cThen no one is safe anywhere in the world. Not in Iran<\/a>. Not in Europe. Not in America<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n The prizes warmed to the theme. On Falling, Laura Carreira\u2019s searing indictment of wage slavery at an Amazon-alike warehouse, took home the Discovery Award. Palestine<\/a> was represented across several categories, including nods for Kamal Aljafari\u2019s documentary Hasan in Gaza, Kaouther Ben Hania\u2019s feature The Voice of Hind Rajab, and the short films Man Number 4 and The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing.<\/p>\n![\"Óliver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5V3QDDR3G7JCDL5HKUUWBPNKOI.jpg\")
\u00d3liver Laxe accepts the European Editor award on behalf of Crist\u00f3bal Fern\u00e1ndez for the movie Sir\u00e2t at the 38th European Film Awards in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Andreas Rentz\/Getty Images <\/p>\n