The musical film Emilia Pérez won the 37th European Film Awards on Saturday night. The film by French director Jacques Audiard won a total of five awards at the ceremony in the Swiss city of Luzern – for the best European film of the year, as well as in the categories of best director, actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), screenplay and editing. This was reported by the DPA agency with reference to the European Film Academy (EFA).
The winning film tells the story of a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes a gender reassignment to atone for his past crimes. The work, which is France’s candidate for the “foreign Oscar”, is a combination of thriller, musical drama, burlesque comedy, soap opera and melodrama.
At the Cannes Film Festival, Emilia Pérez’s film was awarded the Jury Prize, and Gascón, who describes herself as a transwoman, won the award for best actors together with colleagues Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana.
This year’s European Film Awards had more nominations, as the Best Film category included not only feature films, but also documentaries and animated films. Thus, 15 titles competed for the prizes, compared to the usual five. Award for the best European actor unexpectedly won Abou Sangare for his performance in the French film L’Histoire de Souleymane (The Story of Suleiman) directed by Boris Lojkin.
It became the best documentary film the film No Other Land shot by a team of Palestinian and Israeli directorswhose theme is the expulsion of Palestinians from villages south of Hebron in the West Bank.
German director Wim Wenders was awarded a lifetime achievement award, while Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini received an award for her contribution to the influence of European cinema in the world. The European Film Awards, also called the “European Oscars”, are considered one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. About 5,000 members of the European Film Academy decided on the winners in various categories.