The 2026 European Film Awards took place in Berlin on January 17, crowning Sentimental Value as best film with five additional wins. The ceremony, shifted to January for better alignment with the global awards season, featured overlaps with potential Oscar contenders. Filmmaker Jafar Panahi opened with a poignant plea against oppression in Iran.
The European Film Awards (EFA) ceremony, held in Berlin on January 17, 2026, marked a departure from its traditional December timing to sync with the international awards calendar. Although Academy voting had closed the previous day, the event's outcomes could sway Oscar voters ahead of the March ceremony.
Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier, emerged as the night's biggest winner, securing six awards: best film, director for Trier, actress for Renate Reinsve, actor for Stellan Skarsgård, and screenplay for Trier and Eskil Vogt. The Neon-distributed film is anticipated to earn Best Picture and acting nominations at the Oscars.
Oliver Laxe's Sirāt claimed five technical honors, including cinematography for Mauro Herce, casting for Nadia Acimi, Luís Bértolo, and María Rodrigo, editing for Cristóbal Fernández, sound design for Laia Casanovas, Amanda Villavieja, and Yasmina Praderas, and production design for Laia Ateca. This Spanish-language film, set in Morocco's desert, represents Spain's Oscar submission and garnered five shortlist nods.
The ceremony opened with Iranian director Jafar Panahi, facing imprisonment, urging action against his country's protests. "When the truth is crushed in one place, freedom suffocates everywhere," he stated. "Then no one is safe anywhere in the world. Not in Iran. Not in Europe. Not in America. Not anywhere on this planet."
Documentary filmmaker Mark Cousins curated the presentation without a traditional host, incorporating flashbacks to classics like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Honors went to Alice Rohrwacher for world cinema achievement and Liv Ullmann for lifetime achievement, where she quipped about Nobel Prize misuse laws.
Other winners included Hania Rani for composer on Sentimental Value, Fiume o Morte! for documentary, Arco for animated feature, and On Falling for discovery prize. Bugonia took makeup and hair, while It Was Just an Accident, despite nominations, won nothing.
With voter overlap between the EFAs and Oscars, films like Sentimental Value and Sirāt may gain momentum in the Academy race.
