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The drama »Quo Vadis, Aida?« By the Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić received an award from the European Film Academy
Photo: Kemal Softic / dpa
The drama »Quo Vadis, Aida?« By Jasmila Žbanić about the massacre in Srebrenica is named the best European film of the year.
The European Film Academy announced on Saturday evening in Berlin.
A total of five titles were nominated for the best feature film.
In addition to "Quo Vadis, Aida?" And "The Father", these were the horror fantasy film "Titane", the film "Compartment No. 6" about a train journey and "The Hand of God" by Paolo Sorrentino about Naples in the 1980s.
Director Žbanić dedicated the film to the women of Srebrenica
"Quo Vadis, Aida?" Also received the awards for best director and best actress.
For this, Žbanić thanked him in a video slot.
She dedicated the film to the women from Srebrenica and remembered, among other things, the recently deceased Italian director Lina Wertmüller.
The Serbian Jasna Đuričić was awarded in the category "Best Actress".
In “Quo Vadis, Aida?” She plays a woman who works as a translator in the UN protection zone Srebrenica during the Bosnian war.
She is fighting to save her family.
In 1995, Serbian units overran the United Nations protection zone in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina and subsequently murdered more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.
Anthony Hopkins best actor
Anthony Hopkins was named best actor for his role in the drama "The Father".
In it, the Welshman plays a man suffering from dementia.
The German actor Franz Rogowski, who was also nominated in the category for his role in the film »Great Freedom«, was accordingly left empty-handed.
The European Film Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the industry.
The more than 4,000 academy members voted on many award winners, similar to the Oscars in the USA.
The awards are then usually given alternately in Berlin and another European city.
Because of the pandemic, a major award ceremony was canceled again.
Instead, there was a live link with a few guests from Berlin.
Animated documentary excellent
“Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse” by the German director Maria Speth was in the running for the best documentary film, but the award went to the animated film “Flee”. The Danish director Susanne Bier ("In a Better World", "The Undoing") was honored for European merits in the film scene. The honorary award for life's work went to the Hungarian director Márta Mészáros. Filmmaker Steve McQueen ("12 Years a Slave") was recognized for innovative storytelling for his "Small Ax" series. Best comedy was »Ninjababy« from Norway.
Last year, the tragic comedy »Der Rausch« by Thomas Vinterberg was recognized as the best European feature film.
The German actress Paula Beer won an award for best actress - for her role as the mysterious Undine in Christian Petzold's film of the same name.
col / dpa