The Father, Florian Zeller’s disorientating and poignant dementia drama starring Anthony Hopkins, won best actor and best screenplay at this year’s European film awards – but was ultimately pipped to best film by Quo Vadis, Aida?, a shattering depiction of the calamitous 1992 UN attempt to prevent the Srebrenica massacre.
Hopkins was not present to pick up his best actor award, which follows his Oscar and Bafta for the film.
It was a brisk and pragmatic occasion, low on the socio-political fire and state-of-Europe addresses seen in pre-Covid European film awards.
British director Steve McQueen won the prize for European innovative storytelling – only the second time the European film academy has given the award – for his five-film anthology about the UK African-Caribbean experience, Small Axe.