The 38th European Film Awards, presented by the European Film Academy to recognize achievements in European filmmaking, took place at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin on 17 January 2026.
Mark Cousins curated the award ceremony along with the musical concept incharge German composer Dascha Dauenhauer, and the German stage director Robert Lehniger, who also oversaw the award ceremony.
Sentimental Value swept the top award categories.
Selection Feature Film The selection of feature films was announced on 14 October 2025.
Bearcave – Krysianna B. Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos (, ) Bugonia – Yorgos Lanthimos (, , ) Case 137 – Dominik Moll () Christy – Brendan Cantry (, ) Deaf – Eva Libertad () Die My Love – Lynne Ramsay (, , ) Dreams (Sex Love) – Dag Johan Haugerud () Duse – Pietro Marcello (, ) Father – Tereza Nvotová (, , ) Franz – Agnieszka Holland (, , ) Fuori – Mario Martone (, ) I Only Rest in the Storm – Pedro Pinho (, , , ) It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi (, , ) La grazia – Paolo Sorrentino () The Last Viking – Anders Thomas Jensen (, ) Late Shift – Petra Volpe (, ) The Little Sister – Hafsia Herzi (, ) Little Trouble Girls – Urška Djukic (, , , ) Love Me Tender – Anna Cazenave Cambet () The Love That Remains – Hlynur Pálmason (, , , ) Loveable – Lilja Ingolfsdottir () Maspalomas – Jose Mari Goenaga, Aitor Arregi () Milk Teeth – Mihai Mincan (, , , , ) Mirrors No. 3 – Christian Petzold () Mother – Teona Strugar Mitevska (, ) The North – Bart Schrijver () On Falling – Laura Carreira (, ) Once Upon a Time in Gaza – Tarzan and Arab Nasser (, , , , , ) One of Those Days When Hemme Dies – Murat Fıratoğlu (, ) Palestine 36 – Annemarie Jacir (, , , , ) Pillion – Harry Lighton () Romería – Carla Simón (, ) Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier (, , , , ) Silent Friend – Ildikó Enyedi (, , ) Sirāt – Oliver Laxe (, ) Sleepless City – Guillermo Galoe (, ) Sound of Falling – Mascha Schilinski () The Stranger – François Ozon () Sundays – Alauda Ruiz de Azúa () Two Prosecutors – Sergei Loznitsa (, , , , , ) The Voice of Hind Rajab – Kaouther Ben Hania (, ) What Marielle Knows – Frédéric Hambalek () Yes – Nadav Lapid (, , , ) Young Mothers – Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (, )
Documentary The selection of 15 documentary films was announced on 14 October 2025.
Afternoons of Solitude – Albert Serra (, ) An American Pastoral – Auberi Edler () Ancestral Visions of the Future – Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (, , , , ) Fiume o morte! – (, , ) Flophouse America – Monica Strømdahl (, , ) Good Valley Stories – José Luis Guerin (, ) Hair, Paper, Water... – Nicolas Graux, Minh Quý Trương (, , ) Listen to the Voices – Maxime Jean-Baptiste (, ) Memory – Vladlena Sandu (, ) – Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgovyi (, , ) Riefenstahl – Andres Veiel () Songs of Slow Burning Earth – Olha Zhurba (, , , ) The Shards – Masha Chernaya (, ) TWST / Things We Said Today – Andrei Ujică (, ) With Hasan in Gaza – Kamal Aljafari ()
Animation The selection of 8 animated feature films was announced on 14 October 2025.
Arco – Ugo Bienvenu () Balentes – (, ) Checkered Ninja 3 – Anders Matthesen, () – () Dog of God – Raitis Abele, Lauris Abele (, ) Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – Maïlys Vallade & LianeCho Han () Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake – Irene Iborra Rizo (, , , , ) Tales from the Magic Garden – David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec (, , , )
Winners and nominees The nominees for European Short Film – Prix Vimeo were announced on 31 October 2025. The nominations were announced on 18 November 2025 at the Alcázar of Seville, following the 22nd Seville European Film Festival. The nominations in Excellence categories were announced on 26 November 2025.
European Film English title Original title Director(s) Producer(s) Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Joachim Trier Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Ottmar, Nathanaël Karmitz, Juliette Schrameck, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Lizette Jonjic, Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Lars Thomas Skare, Atilla Yücer It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Jafar Panahi Philippe Martin, Jafar Panahi, Christel Hénon, Sandrine Dumas Sirāt Oliver Laxe Domingo Corral, Oliver Laxe, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, Esther García, Oriol Maymó, Mani Mortazavi, Andrea Queralt Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen Mascha Schilinski Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt, Lasse Scharpen The Voice of Hind Rajab صوت هند رجب Kaouther Ben Hania Nadim Cheikhrouha, Odessa Rae, James Wilson Films nominated for European Documentary and European Animated Feature Film were also considered as candidates for the category of European Film.
European Director Director(s) English title Original title Joachim Trier Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Yorgos Lanthimos Bugonia Oliver Laxe Sirāt Jafar Panahi It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Mascha Schilinski Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen
European Screenwriter Screenwriter(s) English title Original title Eskil Vogt Joachim Trier Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Santiago Fillol Oliver Laxe Sirāt Jafar Panahi It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Mascha Schilinski Louise Peter Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen Paolo Sorrentino La grazia
European Actor Actor English title Original title Stellan Skarsgård Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Sergi López Sirāt Mads Mikkelsen The Last Viking Den sidste viking Toni Servillo La grazia Idan Weiss Franz
European Actress Actress English title Original title Renate Reinsve Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Leonie Benesch Late Shift Heldin Valeria Bruni Tedeschi Duse Léa Drucker Case 137 Dossier 137 Vicky Krieps Love Me Tender
European Documentary English title Original title Director(s) Country Fiume o morte! Igor Bezinović Croatia, Italy, Slovenia Afternoons of Solitude Tardes de soledad Albert Serra France, Spain Riefenstahl Andres Veiel Germany Songs of Slow Burning Earth Olha Zhurba Denmark, France, Sweden, Ukraine With Hasan in Gaza مع حسن في غزّة Kamal Aljafari Germany
European Animated Feature Film English title Original title Director(s) Country Arco Ugo Bienvenu France, United States Dog of God Dieva suns Lauris Ābele Raitis Ābele Latvia, United States Little Amélie or the Character of Rain Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes Liane-Cho Han Maïlys Vallade Belgium, France Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake L'Olívia i el terratrèmol invisible Irene Iborra Rizo Belgium, Chile, France, Spain, Switzerland Tales from the Magic Garden Pohádky po babičce Patrik Pašš Jean-Claude Rozec David Súkup Leon Vidmar Czechia, France, Slovakia, Slovenia
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI English title Original title Director(s) Country On Falling Laura Carreira Portugal, United Kingdom Little Trouble Girls Kaj ti je deklica Urška Djukić Croatia, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia My Father's Shadow Akinola Davies Jr. Nigeria, United Kingdom One of Those Days When Hemme Dies Hemme’nin Öldüğü Günlerden Biri Murat Fıratoğlu Germany, Turkey Sauna Mathias Broe Denmark Under the Grey SkyPod szarym niebem Mara Tamkovich Poland
European Young Audience Award English title Original title Director(s) Country Siblings La vita da grandi Greta Scarano Italy Arco Ugo Bienvenu France, United States I Accidentally Wrote a Book Véletlenül írtam egy könyvet Nóra Lakos Hungary, Netherlands
European Short Film – Prix Vimeo Title Director(s) Country City of Poets Sara Rajaei Netherlands Being John Smith John Smith United Kingdom L'Avance Djiby Kebe France Man Number 4 Miranda Pennell United Kingdom The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing Theo Panagopoulos United Kingdom
Excellence Awards European Casting Director Casting director(s) English title Original title Nadia Acimi Luís Bértolo María RodrigoSirāt Yngvill Kolset Haga Avy KaufmanSentimental ValueAffeksjonsverdi Karimah El-Giamal Jacqueline RietzSound of FallingIn die Sonne schauen
European Cinematographer Cinematographer(s) English title Original title Mauro Herce Sirāt Fabian GamperSound of FallingIn die Sonne schauen Manu DacosseThe StrangerL'Étranger
European Editor Editor(s) English title Original title Cristóbal FernándezSirāt Yorgos Mavropsaridis Bugonia Toni FroschhammerDie My Love
European Production Designer Production designer(s) English title Original title Laia Ateca Sirāt James PriceBugonia Jørgen Stangebye LarsenSentimental ValueAffeksjonsverdi
European Costume Designer Costume designer(s) English title Original title Sabrina Krämer Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen Ursula Patzak Duse Michaela Horáčková Hořejší Franz
European Make-up & Hair Artist Make-up and hair artist(s) English title Original title Torsten Witte Bugonia Gabriela Poláková Franz Irina Schwarz Anne-Marie Walther Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen
European Composer (Original Score) Composer(s) English title Original title Hania Rani Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Jerskin FendrixBugonia Michael Fiedler Eike HosenfeldSound of FallingIn die Sonne schauen
European Sound Designer Sound designer(s) English title Original title Yasmina Praderas Amanda Villavieja Laia Casanovas Sirāt Johnnie Burn Bugonia Amal Attia Elias Boughedir Lars Ginzel Gwennolé Le Borgne Marion Papinot The Voice of Hind Rajab صوت هند رجب
Films with multiple nominations and awards
+ Films with multiple nominations Nominations Film 9 Sirāt 8 Sentimental Value Sound of Falling 6 Bugonia 3 Franz It Was Just an Accident 2 Arco Duse La grazia The Voice of Hind Rajab
+ Films with multiple awards Awards Film 6 Sentimental Value 5 Sirāt
Honorary Awards EFA Lifetime Achievement Award European Achievement in World Cinema Eurimages International Co-Production Award
Special awards Lux European Audience Film Award 2026 The LUX Audience Award, presented by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas, recognizes films that raise awareness about current social and political issues in Europe. The prize was awarded to Eva Libertad's Deaf at a ceremony in Brussels on 14 April 2026. English title Original title Director(s) Country Deaf Sorda Eva Libertad Spain Christy Brendan Canty UK, Ireland It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Jafar Panahi Iran, France, Luxemburg Love Me Tender Anna Cazenave Cambet France Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Joachim Trier Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France
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