Sentimental Value Dominates European Film Awards | Vanity Fair

Since 1988, the European Film Awards have sought to honor the best in European moviemaking, with a ceremony traditionally held at every year's end. That changed in 2026, when the European Film Academy moved the event to January, an effort, chair of the board Mike Downey said in April would place it “front and center in the heart of the awards season, where it can create maximum impact for European candidates, as well as enhance the Academy’s role as a significant player in the global awards game.”

How that will play out in relation to this year's Oscars race is yet to be seen—and as voting for the 2026 Academy Awards nominations closed at 5 p.m. PT on Friday, Saturday's EFA wins won't have an impact on that part of the process. But if Joachim Trier's Norwegian family drama, Sentimental Value, ends up on the nomination list, it might be a lock with the Academy's European voters.

That's because the film, which stars Stellan Skarsgard, Renate Reinsve, and Elle Fanning, took home awards across most of the European Film Awards' major categories, including best film, director, actor, actress, screenwriter, and original score.

In his acceptance speech, Trier channeled Nicole Kidman in her iconic AMC ad, saying “Together with strangers, we can laugh and cry in the cinema. So this is also a plea to keep cinema alive, because it is a place where many of us grew up and learned about being human.”

Danish-Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann, and French actress and President of the European Film Academy Juliette Binoche at the European Film Awards.

Other honorees used their time in the spotlight to tackle the news of the day. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi opened the event with a statement about the crisis in his home country, saying 'If the world does not respond to this blatant violence today, not only Iran but the entire world is at risk,” he said. “Violence left unanswered becomes normalized and when it become normalized, it’s spread become contagious. 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… that is precisely why today as filmmakers and artists more than ever, if we are disappointed with politicians, we must at least must refuse to remain silent because silence in a time of crime is not neutrality silence, silence is a participation in darkness.”

Liv Ullmann, the Norwegian actor known for her frequent collaborations with Ingmar Bergman, was the recipient of this year's lifetime achievement award—and, she, too, put politics at the forefront. “I know that in Norway we have laws that say if you misuse a Nobel Prize, we take it away from you,” she said in a clear reference to Venezuelan opposition leader/Nobel winner María Corina Machado's recent White House visit, during which she gave President Donald Trump her 2025 award.

“Somebody in power in the United States may be disappointed,' Ullman continued. 'He will lose it.”

Read on for the full list of 2026 European Film Awards winners below, and don’t miss Vanity Fair’s complete coverage of the 2026 awards season.

WINNER: Sentimental Value

Afternoons of SolitudeArcoDog of GodFiume o Morte!It Was Just an AccidentLittle AmelieOlivia and the Invisible EarthquakeRiefenstahlSirātSongs of Slow Burning EarthSound of FallingTales From the Magic GardenThe Voice of Hind RajabWith Hasan in Gaza

WINNER: Joachim Trier—Sentimental Value

Yorgos Lanthimos—BugoniaOliver Laxe—SirātJafar Panahi—It Was Just an AccidentMascha Schilinski—Sound of Falling

WINNER: Renate Reinsve—Sentimental Value

Leonie Benesch—Late ShiftValeria Bruni Tedeschi—DuseLéa Drucker—Case 137Vicky Krieps—Love Me Tender

Stellan Skarsgård—Sentimental Value

Sergi López—SirātMads Mikkelsen—The Last VikingToni Servillo—La GraziaIdan Weiss—Franz

WINNER: Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier—Sentimental Value

Santiago Fillol and Oliver Laxe—SirātJafar Panahi—It Was Just an AccidentMascha Schilinski and Louise Peter—Sound of FallingPaolo Sorrentino—La Grazia

WINNER: Fiume o Morte!

Afternoons of SolitudeRiefenstahlSongs of Slow Burning EarthWith Hasan in Gaza

WINNER: Arco

Dog of GodLittle AmelieOlivia and the Invisible EarthquakeTales From the Magic Garden

WINNER: Hania Rani—Sentimental Value

Jerskin Fendrix—BugoniaMichael Fiedler, Eike Hosenfeld—Sound of Falling

WINNER: Mauro Herce for Sirāt

Fabian Gamper for Sound of FallingManu Dacosse for The Stranger

WINNER: Cristóbal Fernández—Sirāt

Yorgos Mavropsaridis—BugoniaToni Froschhammer—Die My Love

WINNER: Laia Ateca—Sirāt

James Price—BugoniaJørgen Stangebye Larsen—Sentimental Value

WINNER: Sabrina Krämer—Sound of Falling

Ursula Patzak—DuseMichaela Horáčková Hořejší—Franz

WINNER: Nadia Acimi, Luís Bértolo and María Rodrigo—Sirāt

Yngvill Kolset Haga and Avy Kaufman—Sentimental ValueKarimah El-Giamal and Jacqueline Rietz—Sound of Falling

WINNER: Torsten Witte—BugoniaGabriela Poláková—FranzIrina Schwarz and Anne-Marie Walther—Sound of Falling

WINNER: Laia Casanovas, Amanda Villavieja and Yasmina Praderas—Sirāt

Johnnie Burn—BugoniaGwennolé Le Borgne, Marion Papinot, Lars Ginzel, Elias Boughedir and Amal Attia —The Voice of Hind Rajab

WINNER: On Falling

Little Trouble GirlsMy Father’s ShadowOne of Those Days When Hemme DiesSaunaUnder the Grey Sky

WINNER: Siblings

ArcoI Accidentally Wrote a Book

WINNER: City of Poets

Being John SmithL’AvanceMan Number 4The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing

Will be awarded in April, 2026

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