Awards for Wajda and Łoziński

Last night Marcel Łoziński received the prestigious European Film Award in the Best Short Film category for his documentary Poste Restante. Andrzej Wajda received the Prix FIPRESCI for Sweet Rush.

Łoziński’s documentary, made in the form of an educational film about the post office, features addressless letters sent to people who don’t exist. Among them is a letter written in a child’s handwriting and addressed: “God. Heaven”. These letters end up in the Undeliverable Parcels Department of the post office in Koluszki.

Nominated for a European Film Award was another Polish film: Glass Trap by Paweł Ferdek.

Andrzej Wajda received the Critics’ Award – Prix FIPRESCI for his film Sweet Rush. “Andrzej Wajda wrote European film history already with his first films: Generation, Kanał, Ashes and Diamonds. He has influenced generations of filmmakers”, explained Klaus Eder, the secretary general of FIPRESCI, in an official statement. “We also want to honour Wajda’s latest film Sweet Rush. It’s not what you would call a late work. On the contrary, it is the work of a young spirit. Wajda undertakes to open new perspectives for European authors’ cinema today in a courageous and risky way”, writes Klaus Eder.

The top winners at last night’s ceremony in the German city of Bochum were The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke, with three awards, A Prophet by Jacques Audiard and Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle, with two awards each.

Below is a complete list of the 2009 European Film Award winners:

EUROPEAN FILM 2009
Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon), Germany/Austria/France/Italy
written and directed by Michael Haneke
produced by Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz, Margaret Menegoz
& Andrea Occhipinti

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2009
Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)

EUROPEAN ACTOR 2009
Tahar Rahim in Un ProphEte (A Prophet)

EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2009
Kate Winslet in The Reader (Der Vorleser)

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2009
Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)

CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2009
Anthony Dod Mantle for Antichrist & Slumdog Millionaire

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY PRIX D’EXCELLENCE 2009
Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier, Jean-Paul Hurier & Marc Doisne for
the Sound Design, Un ProphEte (A Prophet)

EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2009
Alberto Iglesias for Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces)

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2009
Katalin Varga, Romania/UK/Hungary
written & directed by Peter Strickland
produced by Tudor Giurgiu, Oana Giurgiu & Peter Strickland

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 2009
Mia et le Migou (Mia and the Migoo), France/Italy
directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd, co-directed by Nora Twomey

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM 2009
POSTE RESTANTE by Marcel Łoziński

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Ken Loach

EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA
Isabelle Huppert

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2009 – Prix ARTE
THE SOUND OF INSECTS – Record of a Mummy, Switzerland
by Peter Liechti

EUROPEAN CO-PRODUCTION AWARD – Prix EURIMAGES
Diana Elbaum and Jani Thiltges

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY CRITICS AWARD 2009 – Prix FIPRESCI
Andrzej Wajda for TATARAK (Sweet Rush)

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD for Best European Film
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, UK
directed by Danny Boyle
written by Simon Beaufoy
produced by Christian Colson