Hidden movie director-screenwriter Michael Haneke was the European Film Awards’ Best Director for his disturbing psychological-political thriller starring Best European Actor winner Daniel Auteuil as the embodiment of the guilt-ridden (former) “European colonialist” and Juliette Binoche as his wife – besides veteran Annie Girardot (Rocco and His Brothers, The Piano Teacher) as Auteuil’s mother. Haneke’s Hidden movie also won the evening’s top award. Somewhat curiously, Haneke lost the Best European Screenwriter trophy to Hany Abu-Assad and Bero Beyer for the Palestinian suicide bomber drama Paradise Now.
Hidden movie: Michael Haneke thriller tops European Film Awards
Michael Haneke’s disturbing psychological/political thriller Hidden / Caché was the big winner at the 2005 European Film Awards held this evening, Dec. 3, in Berlin. Haneke’s Hidden movie was chosen as the year’s Best European Film, in addition to wins for Best European Director, Best European Actor Daniel Auteuil, and Best European Editors Michael Hudecek and Nadine Muse.
That’s quite a contrast to last year, when Fatih Akin’s culture clash drama Head-On topped one single “official” category: Best European Film. (See below the full list of the 2005 European Film Awards’ winners and nominees.)
‘Hidden’ movie ‘losers’
The Hidden movie losers at the 2005 European Film Awards were leading lady Juliette Binoche, cinematographer Christian Berger, and Michael Haneke himself in the Best European Screenwriter category.
Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner Julia Jentsch took home the Best European Actress award for her outstanding portrayal of one of the young German leaders of the anti-Nazi resistance in Sophie Scholl: The Final Days / Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage.
Additionally, Jentsch won the Jameson People’s Choice Award, and so did Sophie Scholl: The Final Days’ director and fellow Berlin Film Festival winner Marc Rothemund.
Hany Abu-Assad’s controversial political drama Paradise Now, which has been accused of humanizing Palestinian suicide bombers, won the Best European Screenplay Award for Abu-Assad and Bero Beyer.
Franz Lustig was the Best European Cinematographer for Wim Wenders’ Don’t Come Knocking, toplining Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard.
Hidden failed to be shortlisted only in the Best European Composer and Best European Production Designer categories. The winners were, respectively, Rupert Gregson-Williams and Andrea Guerra for Terry George’s Rwanda genocide drama Hotel Rwanda, and Aline Bonetto for Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s World War I-themed romantic drama A Very Long Engagement.
Julia Jentsch was the European Film Awards’ Best Actress winner for her portrayal of a young German leader of the anti-Nazi resistance in Marc Rothemund’s Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Germany’s submission for the 2006 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
More European Film Award winners
The Prix Screen International for the Best non-European film went to George Clooney’s classy, black-and-white drama Good Night and Good Luck, starring David Strathairn as U.S. journalist Edward R. Murrow.
One curiosity about this particular category is that the British-German co-production The Constant Gardener, starring British nationals Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, and directed by Brazilian national Fernando Meirelles, was a Prix Screen International contender – and thus, ineligible as a European film.
The Prix Fassbinder for Best First European Film went to Jacob Thuesen’s Danish drama Accused / Anklaget, while the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) selected Michael Haneke’s Hidden movie as the year’s best.
And finally, Orlando Bloom was the curious but hardly unexpected People’s Choice Best Actor Award winner for Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven.
Sean Connery & Maurice Jarre receive honorary awards
In the European Film Academy’s honorary awards department, veteran Sean Connery, best known as the first James Bond in blockbusters such as Goldfinger and Thunderball, and a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner for Brian De Palma’s 1987 crime drama The Untouchables, was the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
The European Achievement in World Cinema was given to another veteran, composer Maurice Jarre, among whose numerous credits are Serge Bourguignon’s Sundays and Cybele, William Wyler’s The Collector, John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix; the David Lean epics and near-epics Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter, and A Passage to India; and, more recently, Alfonso Arau’s A Walk in the Clouds and István Szabo’s Sunshine.
Sean Connery: The European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award was handed to the Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner (The Untouchables, 1987) best known as cinema’s original James Bond in blockbusters such as Dr. No, Goldfinger, and Thunderball – in addition to disparate roles in star vehicles such as Sidney Lumet’s The Hill, John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King, Fred Zinnemann’s Five Days One Summer, Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Gus Van Sant’s Finding Forrester.
2005 European Film Awards: Winners and nominations
Although Michael Haneke’s Hidden movie swept the 2005 European Film Awards, there was more than enough room to honor other movies, including Marc Rothemund’s Sophie Scholl: The Final Days and Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now.
Best European Film
Brothers / Brødre, Denmark / U.K. / Sweden / Norway.
Director: Susanne Bier.* Hidden / Caché, France / Austria / Germany / Italy.
Director: Michael Haneke.Don’t Come Knocking, Germany.
Director: Wim Wenders.The Child / L’Enfant, Belgium / France.
Director: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne.My Summer of Love, U.K.
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski.Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Germany.
Director: Marc Rothemund.Prix Screen International
Battle in Heaven / Batalla en el cielo, Carlos Reygadas, France / Mexico / Germany / Belgium.
Be with Me, Eric Khoo, Singapore.
Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee, USA.
Broken Flowers, Jim Jarmusch, USA.
The Constant Gardener, Fernando Meirelles, U.K. / Germany / Kenya.
Crash, Paul Haggis, USA.
C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée, Canada.
* Good Night and Good Luck., George Clooney, USA.
Look Both Ways, Sarah Watt, Australia.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Park Chan-wook, South Korea.
Tsotsi, Gavin Hood, U.K. / South Africa.Best European Director
Susanne Bier, Brothers.
Roberto Faenza, Come into the Light / Alla luce del sole.
* Michael Haneke, Hidden.
Alex de la Iglesia, The Perfect Crime / Crimen ferpecto.
Pawel Pawlikowski, My Summer of Love.
Cristi Puiu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu / Moartea Domnului Lazarescu.
Wim Wenders, Don’t Come Knocking.Best European Actress
Juliette Binoche, Hidden.
Sandra Ceccarelli, The Life I Want / La Vita che vorrei.
* Julia Jentsch, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days.
Connie Nielsen, Brothers.
Natalie Press, My Summer of Love.
Audrey Tautou, A Very Long Engagement / Un long dimanche de fiançailles.Best European Actor
* Daniel Auteuil, Hidden.
Romain Duris, The Beat That My Heart Skipped / De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté.
Henry Hübchen, Go for Zucker! / Alles auf Zucker.
Ulrich Matthes, The Ninth Day / Der neunte Tag.
Jérémie Renier, L’Enfant.
Ulrich Thomsen, Brothers.Best European Screenwriter
* Hany Abu-Assad & Bero Beyer, Paradise Now.
Mark O’Halloran, Adam & Paul.
Michael Haneke, Hidden.
Anders Thomas Jensen, Adam’s Apples / Adams Æbler and Brothers.
Dani Levy & Holger Franke, Go For Zucker!.
Cristi Puiu & Razvan Radulescu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.Best European Cinematographer
Christian Berger, Hidden.
Bruno Delbonnel, A Very Long Engagement.
Anthony Dod Mantle, Manderlay.
Ryszard Lenczewski, My Summer of Love.
* Franz Lustig, Don’t Come Knocking.
Gyula Pados, Fateless / Sorstalanság.Best European Composer
* Rupert Gregson-Williams & Andrea Guerra, Hotel Rwanda.
Joachim Holbek, Manderlay.
Cyril Morin, The Syrian Bride.
Ennio Morricone, Fateless.
Stefan Nilsson, As in Heaven / Så som i Himmelen.
Johan Söderqvist, Brothers.Best European Editor
* Michael Hudecek & Nadine Muse, Hidden.
Peter Przygodda & Oli Weiss, Don’t Come Knocking.
Hervé Schneid, A Very Long Engagement.Best European Production Designer
* Aline Bonetto, A Very Long Engagement.
Peter Grant, Manderlay.
Jana Karen, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days.European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award
Sean Connery.European Achievement In World Cinema
Maurice Jarre.European Film Academy Critics Award – Prix Fipresci
Hidden.European Film Academy Discovery – Prix Fassbinder
4 / Four, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Russia.
Alice, Marco Martins, Portugal.
* Accused / Anklaget, Jacob Thuesen, Denmark.
Stranger / Ono, Malgorzata Szumowska, Germany / Poland.
When the Sea Rises / Quand la mer monte, Yolande Moreau & Gilles Porte, France / Belgium.
Saimir, Francesco Munzi, Italy.
Uno, Aksel Hennie, Norway.European Film Academy Documentary – Prix Arte.
Stroke / Am Seidenen Faden.
Director: Katarina Peters, Germany.The Devil’s Miner / Berg des Teufels.
Director: Richard Ladkani & Kief Davidson, Germany.Dreamland / Leiputrija.
Director: Laila Pakalnina, Latvia / Germany.Melodias.
Director: François Bovy, Switzerland.Before Flying Back to the Earth / Pries Parskrendant i Zeme.
Director: Arunas Matelis, Lithuania / Germany.Rehearsals / Repetitioner.
Director: Michal Leszczylowky & Gunnar Källström, Sweden.The Swenkas.
Director: Jeppe Rønde, Denmark / Sweden.* The Pipeline Next Door / Un Dragon dans les eaux pures du Caucase.
Director: Nino Kirtadzé, France.Raw Youth / Ungdommens Råskap.
Director: Margreth Olin, Norway / Denmark.Viva Zapatero!.
Director: Sabina Guzzanti, Italy.Workingman’s Death.
Director: Michael Glawogger, Austria / Germany.Short Films†
Little Terrorist.
Director: Ashvin Kumar, U.K.Randevú.
Director: Ferenc Cakó, Hungary.Rain Is Falling.
Director: Holger Ernst, Germany.Flatlife.
Director: Jonas Geirnaert, Belgium.Hoi Maya.
Director: Claudia Lorenz, Switzerland.* Undressing My Mother.
Director: Ken Wardrop, Ireland.Toz.
Director: Halit Fatih Kizilgok, Turkey.Bawke.
Director: Hisham Zaman, Norway.A Serpente.
Director: Sandro Aguilar, Portugal.Prva Plata.
Director: Alen Drljevic, Bosnia & Herzegovina.Scen nr. 6882 Ur mitt Liv.
Director: Ruben Östlund, Sweden.Butterflies.
Director: Max Jacoby, Luxemburg.Minotauromaquia, Pablo en el Laberinto.
Director: Juan Pablo Etcheverry, Spain.† Throughout the year, the European Film Academy and United International Pictures present a Prix UIP for short films at 12 festivals across Europe. The prize includes an automatic nomination for the European Film Awards.
Jameson People’s Choice Awards
Best European Director
Jacques Audiard, The Beat That My Heart Skipped.
Timur Bekmambetov, Nightwatch.
Alex de la Iglesia, The Perfect Crime.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, A Very Long Engagement.
Dani Levy, Go for Zucker!.
Roger Michell, Enduring Love.
Kay Pollack, As in Heaven.
* Marc Rothemund, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days.
Paolo Sorrentino, The Consequences of Love / Le conseguenze dell’amore.
István Szabo, Being Julia.Best European Actor
Christian Bale, The Machinist.
Jean-Marc Barr, Côte d’Azur / Crustacés et coquillages.
* Orlando Bloom, Kingdom of Heaven.
Daniel Craig, Enduring Love & Layer Cake.
Marian Dziedziel, The Wedding.
Henry Hübchen, Go for Zucker!.
Toni Servillo, The Consequences of Love.
Ulrich Thomsen, Brothers.
Srdjan Todorovic, Red Coloured Grey Truck.
Luis Tosar, Your Next Life.Best European Actress
Hiam Abbass, The Syrian Bride.
Mónica Cervera, The Perfect Crime.
Judi Dench & Maggie Smith, Ladies in Lavender.
Agnieszka Grochowska, The Welts.
* Julia Jentsch, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days.
Licia Maglietta, Agatha and the Storm.
Emily Mortimer, Dear Frankie.
Connie Nielsen, Brothers.
Charlotte Rampling, Lemming.
Audrey Tautou, A Very Long Engagement.
European Film Academy website.
Images of Hidden movie screenwriter-director Michael Haneke, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days actress Julia Jentsch, and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Sean Connery at the European Film Awards: Axel Schmidt / Action Press.
“Hidden Movie + Sean Connery & Maurice Jarre: European Film Awards” last updated in January 2019.