European Film Awards 2026 Winners Revealed
- Berlin, Germany - The 2026 European Film Awards ceremony, curated by filmmaker Mark Cousins ("The Story of Film"), composer Dascha Dauenhauer, and stage director Robert Lehniger, opened with...
- Panahi,facing a new prison sentence in Iran,used his opening remarks to call attention to the ongoing oppression and killing of protesters in his country.
- Panahi continued, emphasizing the obligation of filmmakers and artists to speak out against injustice, stating that silence is unacceptable in times of crisis.
The European Film Awards (EFA) shifted its regular December date to January this year to more closely align wiht an increasingly international-leaning awards season. While these winners will not impact the Oscar nominations, as Academy voting closed on January 16, the January 17 awards ceremony could influence Oscar voters in picking their winners in March.
Europe’s equivalent to the Oscars handed out prizes on saturday in Berlin,with several nominees and winners overlapping with what are expected to be 2026 Oscar nominees: “Bugonia,” “Sentimental Value,” “It Was Just an Accident,” and “Bugonia” among them. Last year’s big winner, “Emilia Pérez,” emerged triumphant at the EFAs in December 2024 before star Karla Sofía Gascón’s past Twitter behavior surfaced the following month, tanking the movie’s chances at winning important Academy Awards.
European Film Awards Ceremony Highlights Iranian Protests, Foregoes Conventional Host
Berlin, Germany – The 2026 European Film Awards ceremony, curated by filmmaker Mark Cousins (“The Story of Film”), composer Dascha Dauenhauer, and stage director Robert Lehniger, opened with a powerful political statement from Iranian director Jafar Panahi. The ceremony, held on January 18, 2026, notably lacked a traditional emcee, instead featuring flashbacks to celebrated European films including “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and “Playtime.”
Panahi,facing a new prison sentence in Iran,used his opening remarks to call attention to the ongoing oppression and killing of protesters in his country. According to Variety, he stated, “When the truth is crushed in one place, freedom suffocates everywhere. Then no one is safe anywhere in the world.Not in Iran.Not in Europe. Not in America. Not anywhere on this planet.”
Panahi continued, emphasizing the obligation of filmmakers and artists to speak out against injustice, stating that silence is unacceptable in times of crisis.
The ceremony itself, as reported by IndieWire, departed from convention by foregoing a traditional host and relying on cinematic flashbacks to create atmosphere.
Further details regarding the award winners can be found on Variety’s coverage.
Panahi’s previous legal troubles and the impending prison sentence were detailed in IndieWire’s reporting.