The drama "Sentimental Value" by Norwegian director Joachim Trier about a father-daughter relationship won the European Film Award for Best Film.
The work tells the story of a filmmaker who seeks to cast his semi-estranged daughter in the lead role of his most personal project to date.
The lead actors — Sweden's Stellan Skarsgård and Norway's Renate Reinsve — both won acting awards and Trier was also honoured for Best Director.
Five awards went to the road movie "Sirât" by French director Oliver Laxe, in which a father and his son set out into the desert in search of their missing daughter.
The European Film Awards, presented alternately in Berlin and another city, were held for the 38th time, with approximately 5,400 members of the European Film Academy able to vote for a series of winners, similar to the Oscars in the US.
They elected "Fiume o Morte!" as Best Documentary Film, a Croatian work by Igor Bezinovi about the ultranationalist 1919 occupation of Fiume, now Rijeka, Croatia. It combines historical reenactments with reflections on memory, fascism and the city's identity.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann, known for "Scenes from a Marriage" among other works.
Panahi's Appeal
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi made an urgent appeal at the outset of the awards, concerning the dramatic situation in his home country.
"If the world does not react to this blatant violence today, not only Iran, but the entire world is at risk", he said. "Violence when left unanswered, becomes normalised. And when it becomes normalised, it will spread. It becomes contagious".
Mass demonstrations have rocked Iran since late December, initially triggered by surging inflation and a collapsing currency which fuelled anger at the hardline Islamic rulers.
What began as protests against the country's sustained economic woes turned into the worst unrest seen in the country in years, with security forces responding with a brutal crackdown to the anti-government demonstrations.
Human rights activists say more than 3,400 people have been killed since the protests began.
Calling on filmmakers to raise their voices, Panahi said, "When the truth is crushed in one place... no-one is safe anywhere in the world. Not in Iran. Not in Europe, not in America. Not anywhere on this planet". — dpa
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