European Film Awards 2024: ‘Emilia Pérez’ by Jacques Audiard wins big

The 15 films nominated for this year’s European Film Awards are some of the strongest of the year – and we’re not just talking in Europe.

The ceremony, which honours the greatest achievements in European cinema and positions itself at the EU version of the Oscars, took place in the heart of Switzerland this year. And the verdict has dropped, with the top prize going to French film Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard.

In fact, Emilia Pérez did something of a clean sweep, much like Anatomy of a Fall did last year, winning five awards in total.

Jacques Audiard picked up the awards for Best European Film, Best European Director and Best European Screenwriter: “Don’t call me Jacques Audiard – call me Jacques Award,” quipped the French director when he received the award for the latter.

The film also won Best Editing (Juliette Welfling), and as we predicted, the wonderful Karla Sofía Gascón won Best European Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez. The Spanish actress became the first transgender actress to win the Palme d’Or for Best Actress earlier this year, and her win tonight is very merited. She shines bright in Audiard’s film: there’s power, pathos and earnestness seeping through every moment of her performance, and the double-act she and Zoe Saldaña form is magnetic to watch. Gascón ended her speech with a heartfelt call for acceptance and tolerance.

The EFAs have a recurring habit of awarding several awards to the same film, often to the detriment of some variety, it has to be said. This was the case two years ago for Triangle of Sadness, last year for Anatomy of a Fall, and once more this year with Emilia Pérez.

It’s hard to be too grumpy about this when the film is one of our favourites of the year. The Cannes premiering film,