European Films

Best Actress winner Penélope Cruz at the European Film Awards. Photo (c): PAP

The German Stasi-drama Das Leben der Anderen waltzed over the competition, including Almodóvar's expected winner Volver, at the European Film Awards (EFAs) awards ceremony last night in Warsaw. The directing debut of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck won not only the Best Film EFA, but also went home with the Best Actor trophy for Ulrich Mühe and won the writer-director the Best Screenwriter title. Almodóvar did not go home empty-handed, however, his Volver won him the Best Director category, Penélope Cruz won Best Actress for the film, Alberto Iglesias Best Composer and José Luis Alcaine shared the Best Cinematographer EFA with Barry Ackroyd for his work on Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley. The European Discovery EFA went to French-Georgian Gela Babluani for his Venice Lion of the Future winner 13 Tzameti. Volver also won the People's Choice Award for Best European film.

The complete list of winners is as follows:

Best Film - Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)

Best Director - Pedro Almodóvar for Volver

Best Screenwriter - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for Das Leben der Anderen  

Best Actor - Ulrich Mühe in Das Leben der Anderen

Best Actress - Penélope Cruz in Volver

Best Cinematographer - José Luis Alcaine for Volver , Barry Ackroyd for The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Best Composer - Alberto Iglesias for Volver

European Discovery 2006 - 13 Tzameti by Gela Babluani

Best Artistic Contribution - Pierre Pell & Stéphane Rozenbaum for the production design of La science des rêves (The Science of Sleep)

Best Short Film Prix UIP -  Before Dawn by Bálint Kenyeres

Lifetime Achievement Award - Roman Polanski

European Achievement in World Cinema - Jeremy Thomas

Critics Award Prix Fipresci -. Les amants réguliers (Regular Lovers) by Philippe Garrel

 Best Documentary - Die grosse Stille (Into Great Silence) by Philip Gröning

People's Choice Award - Volver by Pedro Almodóvar

Related items:
>feature: European Film Awards 2006 predictions
>EFA Critics prize for Garrel's 'Les amants réguliers'; Production Design EFA for 'Science of Sleep'
>'Das Leben der Anderen' and 'Volver' top EFA 2006 nominations
>'Die grosse Stille' (Into Great Silence) wins the Best Documentary EFA
>Nominations for the European Discovery Award hail from France, Poland, Hungary and Germany