EUROPEAN COMMISSION
PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 3 March 2014
Fantastico! Vassiliou congratulates Sorrentino after La
Grande Bellezza scoops Oscar
European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has congratulated Italian director-screenwriter
Paolo Sorrentino whose MEDIA-backed epic La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) won
the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at last night's 86th Academy Awards in
Hollywood. The movie, staring Toni Servillo as a 65-year-old socialite reflecting on his life
in Rome, has received more than €300 000 to date from the European Union's MEDIA
programme for film development and distribution. In total, seven MEDIA-backed titles
were nominated for Oscars in six categories.
Writing on Twitter this morning, Commissioner Vassiliou commented: "It gave me great
pleasure to hand over the best European Film Award to the Great Beauty by Sorrentino
last December. Now I am thrilled that it received the Oscar as well for the best foreign
film. Fantastico!".
La Grande Bellezza, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, is an Italian
(Medusa Film, Indigo Film) and French (Babe Film) co-production. As well as winning four
prizes at the European Film Awards in Berlin last December (best film, director, actor,
editor), it has also won the best foreign film category at the Golden Globes and the British
Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs).
European film-makers had a good night at the Oscars. The Best Picture award went to 12
Years a Slave by British director Steve McQueen, while space drama Gravity, filmed at the
Pinewood and Shepperton Studios near London, won seven Oscars, including direction
(Alfonso Cuarón) and technical awards for cinematography, film editing, visual effects,
sound editing, sound mixing and score.
Mr Hublot by Laurent Witz (France) and Alexandre Espigares (Spain-Luxembourg), won
the Oscar for Animated Short. The animation features a character created by the Belgian
sculptor Stéphane Halleux.
Background
MEDIA-backed films nominated for the 86th Academy Awards
Best Picture:
Philomena by Stephen Frears (United Kingdom, France, USA)
Awarded €402 000 from MEDIA distribution
Best Foreign Language Film:
La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy, France)
Awarded €314 000 from MEDIA development and distribution
IP/14/207
Jagten (The Hunt) by Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
Awarded €662 000 from MEDIA development, i2i and distribution
L'Image manquante (The Missing Picture) by Rithy Panh (Cambodia, France)
Awarded €54 000 from MEDIA distribution
The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix Van Groeningen (Belgium)
Awarded €388 000 from MEDIA distribution
Best Animated Feature Film:
Ernest and Celestine by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner (France,
Belgium)
Awarded €184 000 from MEDIA development and distribution
Best Documentary Feature:
The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom)
Awarded €172 000 from MEDIA distribution
Best Actress:
Judi Dench for Philomena
Costume Design:
Michael O'Connor for the Invisible Woman
For more information
European Commission: Creative Europe
Androulla Vassiliou's website
Follow Androulla Vassiliou on Twitter @VassiliouEU
Contacts :
Dennis Abbott (+32 2 295 92 58); Twitter: @DennisAbbott
Dina Avraam (+32 2 295 96 67)
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