JURY UNVEILS FIRST EIGHT EFA WINNERS

The European Film Academy and EFA Productions announce the first winners who will be honoured at this year’s European Film Awards. A special eight-member jury convened in Berlin and, based on the EFA Feature Film Selection, decided on the winners in the categories cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, hair & make-up, original score, sound and visual effects. The members of the jury are:

Nadia Ben Rachid, editor, France

Vanja Černjul, cinematographer, Croatia

Annette Focks, composer, Germany

Gerda Koekoek, hair & make-up artist, Netherlands

Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, costume designer, Ireland

Artur Pinheiro, production designer, Portugal

Gisle Tveito, sound designer, Norway

István Vajda, visual effects, Hungary

The European Film Academy congratulates the following awards recipients:

EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHY 2019:
Robbie Ryan for THE FAVOURITE

The innovative and creative visuals of THE FAVOURITE are certainly the work of an exceptional cinematographer but they also reveal a very intimate collaboration with the director. The filmmakers were committed to stay as far away from the photographic conventions of a period drama as they could. The use of natural light and candlelight is reminiscent of Kubrick’s masterpiece BARRY LINDON, while the use of extreme wide-angle lenses takes this approach into a completely new direction. It is both inspiring and encouraging to see how strong imagery and bold cinematographic choices did not take away from the drama, but reinforced it.

EUROPEAN EDITING 2019:
Yorgos Mavropsaridis for THE FAVOURITE

With great talent, Yorgos Mavropsaridis has succeeded in editing THE FAVOURITE in a clever, new and inventive way, thus giving the film an easy and natural flow, playful like a game of checkers.

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGN 2019:
Antxon Gómez for PAIN AND GLORY

With great audacity, Antxon Gómez constructs the universe of Almodóvar’s characters, as reflected in his choices of colour and design styles. Eclectic and bold but always well balanced. With his art, the production designer leads us into the subtext, be it the troubled interior of the main character or the dream-like memoirs of his childhood.

EUROPEAN COSTUME DESIGN 2019:
Sandy Powell for THE FAVOURITE

Sandy Powell’s costumes in THE FAVOURITE give all nods needed to a period film but one that ultimately and refreshingly feels like a punk rock opera. Whilst we bounce off the period detail, there is an underlying contemporary tempo, which makes us believe that we are dancing in the mosh pit with Queen Anne and her courtiers. 

EUROPEAN HAIR & MAKE-UP 2019:
Nadia Stacey for THE FAVOURITE

Nadia Stacey skilfully combines the ladies’ no make-up look with their three-quarter hairpieces which makes them appear so much more natural compared to the extreme wigs and garish make-up of the male characters – as if they had done it themselves. Even the “badger” look of Queen Anne is at the same time hilariously funny but also carries with it a feeling of great sadness.

EUROPEAN ORIGINAL SCORE 2019:
John Gürtler for SYSTEM CRASHER

The music in SYSTEM CRASHER is modern, virtuosic, impulsive and surprising. John Gürtler has transformed the unspeakable into music. Where words are no longer possible, his film music manages to function as a non-verbal language, reflecting the inside of the protagonist and carrying the viewer along with it.

EUROPEAN SOUND 2019:
Eduardo Esquide, Nacho Royo-Villanova & Laurent Chassaigne
for A TWELVE-YEAR NIGHT

The major part of the sound in this film is not about what we see. It’s about what we cannot see when we are held captive in a small and dark cell. In a vivid and tactile way, it lets the audience experience how it is to be a prisoner. The constant off-screen sounds expand the cinematography and give us a clear understanding of the different locations and of how these affect the prisoner’s psyche as the years go on.

EUROPEAN VISUAL EFFECTS 2019:
Martin Ziebell, Sebastian Kaltmeyer, Néha Hirve, Jesper Brodersen & Torgeir Busch for ABOUT ENDLESSNESS

Instead of hiding in the background, the visual effects serve this film amplifying the required effects and thereby creating the special atmosphere required for the director’s vision. Owing to this brave decision by Martin Ziebell and Sebastian Kaltmeyer, the VFX get more space, thus not only supporting the message and visual identity of the film, but raising it to a much higher artistic level.

THE EFA EXCELLENCE JURY 2019:

Nadia Ben Rachid, editor, France

Nadia Ben Rachid started her editing career in 1985 working with Roman Polanski on PIRATES, BITTER MOON and FRANTIC. She worked with Abderrahmane Sissako on LIFE ON EARTH, WAITING FOR HAPPINESS, BAMAKO and TIMBUKTU. For this last film, she won a French César. With over 50 credits, she has also edited HOLY LANDS by Amanda Sthers and numerous documentaries such as all of Anne Aghion’s films including his 2009 Cannes Official Selection entry MY NEIGHBOUR, MY KILLER and Michka Saäl’s PRISONERS OF BECKETT.

Vanja Černjul, cinematographer, Croatia

Days after graduation from the Academy of Dramatic Arts at the University of Zagreb, Vanja Černjul joined the ranks of international journalists providing footage from the frontlines of the conflict in what was then still Yugoslavia. He has since photographed 21 feature films, numerous hit television programmes and countless other projects with a wide range of collaborators. His recent work includes the HBO series THE DEUCE by David Simon, the Netflix original series MARCO POLO by John Fusco, THE PERFECTION by Richard Shepard and CRAZY RICH ASIANS by Jon M. Chu. Vanja has earned two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Cinematography and his work has been honoured with the Stockholm International Film Festival Best Cinematography Award, the Pula Film Festival Golden Arena for Best Cinematography and the Avignon/New York Film Festival Kodak Vision Award.

Annette Focks, composer, Germany

With over 90 credits, Annette Focks has been nominated for the Swedish Guldbagge, Danish Robert, German Lola and the EFAs. She has composed the score for numerous international and German film productions, among them FOUR MINUTES (2006) by Chris Kraus, KRABAT (2008) by Marco Kreuzpaintner, WINDSTORM by Katja von Garnier (2013), THE POLL DIARIES (2010) by Chris Kraus, THE DIVINE ORDER by Petra Volpe and NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON, STILLE HJERTE and 55 STEPS by Bille August, to name but a few.

Gerda Koekoek, hair & make-up artist, Netherlands

With about 20 years of experience as a hairdresser and make-up artist, Gerda Koekoek has worked for TV-series, films, shows and photo shoots. Among the films she has worked on are LOVE IS ALL (2007) by Joram Lürsen, LOVE LIFE (2009) by Reinout Oerlemans, DAYLIGHT (2013) by Diederik Van Rooijen, Reckless (2014) by Joram Lürsen and MAMMAL (2016) by Rebecca Daly. Her last film was INSTINCT by debuting director Halina Reijn starring Carice van Houten and Marwan Kenzari, awarded in Locarno and selected as the Dutch entry for the Oscars Best International Feature Film category.

Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, costume designer, Ireland

With over 35 film credits to her name, Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh has been working as a costume designer for over 20 years. She has collaborated with directors including Jim Sheridan on IN AMERICA, Neil Jordan on BREAKFAST ON PLUTO and ONDINE, Julian Jarrold on BECOMING JANE and BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, Ken Loach on THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY and JIMMY’S HALL, John Michael Mc Donagh on THE GUARD and CALVARY, with Whit Stillman on LOVE & FRIENDSHIP, Colin Trevorrow on the Jurassic World short film BATTLE AT BIG ROCK and most recently on THE RHYTHM SECTION with director Reed Morano. With 18 nominations to her name, Eimer is happy to say that she has no awards to display on the mantlepiece – yet!

Artur Pinheiro, production designer, Portugal

Artur Pinheiro’s career has been divided between film, commercials, theatre and dance set designs. Collaborating with directors like Carlos Diegues, Marco Martins, Miguel Gomes and João Nicolau, his work has been present at countless festivals, and nominated twice for a Platino Award for Ibero-American Cinema – with ARABIAN NIGHTS (2016) and THE GREAT MYSTICAL CIRCUS (2019). This year, the Brazilian Film Academy awarded his work in THE GREAT MYSTICAL CIRCUS, directed by Carlos Diegues, with the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize for Best Art Direction.

Gisle Tveito, sound designer, Norway

As an experienced sound designer from Norway, Gisle Tveito is not only known for his long-time relationship with Scandinavian directors like Joachim Trier and Hans Petter Moland, but also for more ground-breaking work like U – JULY 22 by Erik Poppe. His background and long-time experience has also led him into other parts of filmmaking. He is the only sound designer to have received the prestigious Aamot prize for his outstanding contribution to Norwegian filmmaking.

István Vajda, visual effects, Hungary

Having started his career as a rotoscoping artist, István Vajda consistently moved up the professional ladder taking on roles as compositor, team leader, Vfx supervisor and now he manages his own VFX company. His credits include commercials, animated films like KINGSGLAIVE: FINAL FANTASY XV and several feature films such as HARRY POTTER, FAST & FURIOUS, JUPITER’S MOON, MIDSOMMAR and CURTIZ.

The award recipients and Excellence Jury Members will be guests at the 32nd European Film Awards on 7 December in Berlin.

Berlin, 19 November 2019

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