A German-Austrian comedy drama has swept the board at this year’s European Film Awards.<br /><br /> “Toni Erdmann” – based around a father-daughter relationship – picked up five gongs at the ceremony in the Polish city of Wroclaw.<br /><br /> They include best European film and best director.<br /><br /> “In this movie, the main character Winfried (the father) puts on a show because he is very desperate. Well, I would say in the movie the two genres – drama and comedy – are present at the same time,” explained the winning director, Maren Ade.<br /><br /> The man who played Winfried, Peter Simonischek, came away with the prize for best European actor. <br /><br /> “Great film director, great script. I mean we received five awards, this can’t be a coincidence,” he told Euronews. <br /><br /> “Toni Erdmann” also scooped the best actress accolade – going to Sandra Huller. <br /><br /> “I think we always tried to take the characters seriously – instead of making fun of them we portray them with all their struggles, trials and failures,” she commented. <br /><br /> Euronews’ Wolfgang Spindler reported from Wroclaw: “A big surprise at this years European Film Award ceremony – five accolades in the main categories going to a movie made by a female film director, that never happened before in the history of these awards.”<br /><br /> And finally, the award for European Film 2016 goes to ToniErdmannFilm by Maren Ade! #efa2016 pic.twitter.com/bw4LJNTYtV— European Film Awards (EuroFilmAwards) 10 décembre 2016<br /> <br /><br /> For the full list of winners, click here.<br />
