The 1st Annual European Film Awards, presented by the European Film Academy, recognized excellence in European cinema. The ceremony took place on 1 December 1988 at the Theater des Westens in West Berlin and was hosted by Luxembourgish presenter Desirée Nosbusch and German actor Jan Niklas.[1]
| 1st European Film Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 December 1988 |
| Site | Theater des Westens, West Berlin |
| Hosted by | Desirée Nosbusch and Jan Niklas |
| Organized by | European Film Academy |
| Official website | www |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | A Short Film About Killing |
| Best Actor | Max von Sydow Pelle the Conqueror |
| Best Actress | Carmen Maura Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown |
| Most awards | Wings of Desire Pelle the Conqueror Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2) |
| Most nominations | Distant Voices, Still Lives (5) |
British film Distant Voices, Still Lives led the nominations with five[2] but the films Wings of Desire, Pelle the Conqueror and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown got the most wins with two each.[3] Krzysztof Kieślowski's A Short Film About Killing received the award for Best European Film.[4]
The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to two iconic European directors, to Swedish director Ingmar Bergman presented by German actress Nastasja Kinski and to Italian director Marcello Mastroianni presented by Italian actress Giulietta Masina. English actor Sir Richard Attenborough received the Award of Merit, which was presented by Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida while two Special Awards were presented, one to Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci for The Last Emperor and one to Russian composer Yuri Khanon for the music of The Days of Eclipse.
Winners and nominees
The winners are in a yellow background and in bold.
Best European Film
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Producer(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Short Film About Killing | Krotki film o zabijaniu) | Krzysztof Kieslowski | Ryszard Chutkowski |  |
| Goodbye Children | Au revoir les enfants | Louis Malle |  | |
| The Animated Forest | El bosque animado | José Luis Cuerda | Eduardo Ducay |  |
| Distant Voices, Still Lives | Terence Davies | Jennifer Howarth |  | |
| Wings of Desire | Der Himmel über Berlin | Wim Wenders |  | |
| Pelle the Conqueror | Pelle erobreren | Bille August | Per Holst |  |
Best European Director
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|
| Wim Wenders | Wings of Desire | Der Himmel über Berlin |
| Terence Davies | Distant Voices, Still Lives | |
| Louis Malle | Goodbye Children | Au revoir les enfants |
 Manoel de Oliveira | The Cannibals | Os canibais |
 Sergei Parajanov | The Lovelorn Minstrel | Ashik Kerib / აშიკ-ქერიბი) |
Best European Actress
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmen Maura | Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios | Pepa |
 Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir | In the Shadow of the Raven | Í skugga hrafnsins | Isold |
 Ornella Muti | Private Access | Codice privato | Anna |
 Carol Scanlan | Reefer and the Model | Teresa "the Model" | |
Best European Actor
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
 / Max von Sydow | Pelle the Conqueror | Pelle erobreren | Lassefar "Lasse" Karlsson |
 / Klaus Maria Brandauer | Hanussen | Klaus Schneider / Erik Jan Hanussen | |
| Alfredo Landa | El bosque animado | Malvís / Bandid Fendetestas | |
| Udo Samel | Mit meinen heißen Tränen | Franz Schubert | |
 Dorel Vişan | Iacob | Iacob | |
Best European Supporting Actress
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
 Johanna ter Steege | The Vanishing | Spoorloos | Saskia Wagter |
| Lene Brøndum | Hip Hip Hurrah! | Hip hip hurra! / Hipp hipp hurra! | Lille |
| Freda Dowie | Distant Voices, Still Lives | Mother / Nell Davies | |
 Karin Gregorek | Bear Ye One Another's Burden | Einer trage des anderen Last | Oberschwester Walburga |
Best European Supporting Actor
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curt Bois | Wings of Desire | Der Himmel über Berlin | Homer |
| Björn Granath | Pelle the Conqueror | Pelle Erobreren | Erik |
| Ray McBride | Reefer and the Model | Badger | |
 Wojciech Pszoniak | Mit meinen heißen Tränen | Kajetan | |
| Helgi Skúlason | Shadow of the Raven | Í skugga hrafnsins | Grim |
Best European Young Actor or Actress
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelle Hvenegaard | Pelle the Conqueror | Pelle Erobreren | Pelle Karlsson |
 Ondřej Vetchý | House for Two | Dům pro dva | Dan |
| Michaela Widhalm | Mit meinen heißen Tränen | Schuberts Halbschwester Josefa | |
| Stefan Wood | Cripples Go Christmas | Das Mädchen mit den Feuerzeugen | Spasski |
Best European Script
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|
| Louis Malle | Goodbye Children | Au revoir les enfants |
| Manoel de Oliveira | The Cannibals | Os Canibais |
| Terence Davies | Distant Voices, Still Lives | |
| Angelo Pasquini | It's Happening Tomorrow | Domani accadrà |
| Wolfgang Held | Bear Ye One Another's Burden | Einer trage des anderen Last |
Best Young Film
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Producer(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios | Pedro Almodóvar | Augustin Almodovár | |
| Damnation | Kárhozat | Béla Tarr | József Marx, Tamas Liszkay |  |
| Days of Darkness | Дни затмения | Aleksandr Sokurov | - | |
| It's Happening Tomorrow | Domani accadrà | Daniele Luchetti | Angelo Barbagallo, Nanni Moretti | |
| Pathfinder | Ofelaš | Nils Gaup | John M. Jacobsen |  |
| Reefer and the Model | Joe Comerford | Lelia Doolan | | |
| Stormy Monday | Mike Figgis | Nigel Stafford-Clark | ,  | |
Special Aspect Award
| Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gogi Aleksi-Meschischiwili, Niko Sanukeli, Schota Gogolaschwili | The Lovelorn Minstrel | Ashik Kerib / აშიკ-ქერიბი) | Production Design |
| Henri Alekan | Wings of Desire | Der Himmel über Berlin | Cinematography |
| Mário Barroso | The Cannibals | Os Canibais | |
| Terence Davies | Distant Voices, Still Lives | Original Score | |
| Félix Murcia | Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios | Production Design |
Lifetime Achievement Award
Special Jury Award
Bernardo Bertolucci - for The Last Emperor
Yuri Khanon - The Days of Eclipse (Special Prize of the Jury for the music the film)