The Best Screenwriter award was given to both Pawlikowski and Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Runners-up in the category were the writers of Locke, Leviathan, and Winter Sleep.
Two Polish actresses were present in the Best Actress category: Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska, both nominated for their role in Ida. The award went to Marion Cotillard for her part in Two Days, One Night by the Dardenne brothers.
Ida taking the film world by storm
Still from Paweł Pawlikowski's "Ida", 2013. Pictured: Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska, photo: Opus Film
Ida is a regular at film award ceremonies. In the last couple of months, Paweł Pawlikowski's black and white drama has already received a couple of dozen awards at international film festivals. In recent weeks, industry magazines and websites have been placing it highly in yearly rankings. The director of the Polish Films Institute, Agnieszka Odorowicz says:
This intimate film answers universal questions and shows that difficult and painful issues can be talked about in a whisper which reaches hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world. In the last months the creators of Ida have received several, well-deserved awards, enthusiastic reviews from critics and recognition from viewers around the world. The film has been sold to over 50 countries and it found its place in rankings of the best productions of 2014.
Pawlikowski's film is Polish cinema's biggest international success in recent decades. In France, almost 500 thousand viewers have seen Ida, in Italy over 100 thousand and in Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain, tens of thousands of viewers each. In America, the film has been one of the biggest non-English language hits, drawing over 460 thousand viewers to the cinemas.
The European Oscars, and what's next?
Since 1988, the European Film Academy has been awarding the European Film Awards in different categories. The academy is based in Berlin and brings together around 3 thousand representatives of the film industry, among them famous directors. The EFA is headed by the German director Wim Wenders and chaired by Agnieszka Holland. The awards are given out every year – in Berlin on odd years, and in different European capitals on even years.