Ida wins big at European Film Awards

Polish movie Ida looks set for awards season glory after dominating the European Film Awards (EFA) on Saturday night (13Dec14). The black and white film won the coveted European Film award at the ceremony in Riga, Latvia, and landed four other prizes for its director Pawel Pawlikowski, screenplay, and cinematography while also scooping the People’s Choice Award.
The movie was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes earlier this week (begs08Dec14) and has been selected as Poland’s entry for Academy Award consideration.
For the past two years, the winner of the European Film Award has gone on to win the Best Foreign Language Film prize at the Oscars.
French actress Marion Cotillard won the European Actress prize for Two Days, One Night while Timothy Spall received the male counterpart for his portrayal of painter J.M.W. Turner in Mr. Turner.
During his acceptance speech, Spall said, “Thank you – it is a real surprise. It’s such a surprise, I wore my silly shoes tonight to cheer myself” and added comparing actors’ talents are like comparing “different pieces of fruit; it’s a matter of taste. But speaking of a sort of old rotting London apple, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
French film director Agnes Varda was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award while 12 Years a Slave moviemaker Steve McQueen was handed the European Achievement in World Cinema prize.