The European Film Award for Best Screenwriter is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize a screenwriter who has delivered an outstanding screenplay in a film industry. The award is presented by the European Film Academy (EFA) and was first presented in 1988 to French director and screenwriter Louis Malle for Goodbye Children.
István Szabó, Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm, Ruben Östlund and Paweł Pawlikowski are the only writers who have received this award more than once, with two wins each.
Winners and nominees 1980s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title1988(1st) Louis Malle Goodbye ChildrenAu Revoir Les Enfants Manoel de Oliveira The Cannibals Os Canibais Terence Davies Distant Voices, Still Lives Daniele Luchetti Franco Bernini Angelo Pasquini It's Happening Tomorrow Domani accadrà Wolfgang Held Bear Ye One Another's Burden Einer trage des anderen Last1989(2nd) Mariya Khmelik Little Vera Ма́ленькая Ве́ра Géza Bereményi The Midas Touch Eldorádó Þráinn Bertelsson Magnus Theodoros Angelopoulos Tonino Guerra Thanassis Valtinos Landscape in the Mist Topio stin omichli Maciej Dejczer Cezary Harasimowicz 300 Miles to Heaven 300 mil do nieba
1990s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title1990(3rd) Vitali Kanevsky Freeze Die Come to LifeЗамри, умри, воскресни Ryszard Bugajski Janusz Dymek Interrogation Przesłuchanie Etienne Glaser Madeleine Gustafsson Suzanne Osten The Guardian Angel Skyddsängeln1991(4th) Jaco Van Dormael Toto the HeroToto le Héros1992(5th) István Szabó Sweet Emma, Dear BöbeÉdes Emma, drága Böbe - vázlatok, aktok1993(6th) No award given1994(7th) No award given1995(8th) No award given1996(9th) Arif Aliev Sergei Bodrov Boris Giller Prisoner of the MountainsКавказский пленник1997(10th) Chris Vander StappenAlain Berliner Ma Vie en Rose Ademir Kenović Abdulah Sidran The Perfect Circle Savršeni krug Andrei Kurkov A Friend of the Deceased Priyatel pokoynika1998(11th) Peter Howitt Sliding Doors Lars von Trier The Idiots Idioterne Alex van Warmerdam Little Tony Kleine Teun Jean-Pierre Bacri Agnès Jaoui Same Old Song On connaît la chanson1999(12th) István Szabó Israel Horovitz Sunshine Saša Gedeon The Idiot Returns Návrat idiota Ayub Khan Din East is East
2000s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title2000(13th) Agnès Jaoui Jean-Pierre Bacri The Taste of Others Le goût des autres Rafael Azcona Butterfly's Tongue La lengua de las mariposas Wolfgang Kohlhaase The Legend of Rita Die Stille nach dem Schuß Nana Djordjadze Mariya Zvereva Irakli Kvirikadze 27 Missing Kisses 27 დაკარგული კოცნა Doriana Leondeff Silvio Soldini Bread and Tulips Pane e tulipani Dominik Moll Gilles Marchand Harry, He's Here to Help Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien2001(14th) Danis Tanović No Man's Land Ničija zemlja Laurent Cantet Robin Campillo Time Out L'Emploi du temps Michael Haneke The Piano Teacher Lla pianiste Achero Mañas Pellet El Bola Jean-Louis Milesi Robert Guédiguian The Town Is Quiet La ville est tranquille Ettore Scola Silvia Scola Giacomo Scarpelli Furio Scarpelli Unfair Competition Concorrenza sleale2002(15th) Pedro Almodóvar Talk to Her Hable con ella Jacques Audiard Tonino Benacquista Read My Lips Sur mes lèvres Paul Greengrass Bloody Sunday Aki Kaurismäki The Man Without a Past Mies vailla menneisyyttä Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Piesiewicz Heaven Paul Laverty Sweet Sixteen François Ozon 8 Women 8 Femmes2003(16th) Bernd Lichtenberg Good Bye, Lenin! Comme une image Lars von Trier Dogville Sandro Petraglia Stefano Rulli The Best of Youth La meglio gioventù Hanif Kureishi The Mother Dušan Kovačević The Professional Професионалац Steven Knight Dirty Pretty Things 2004(17th) Agnès Jaoui Jean-Pierre Bacri Look at Me Comme une image Paul Laverty Just a Kiss Ae Fond Kiss… Jean-Luc Godard Our Music Notre musique Pedro Almodóvar Bad Education La mala educación Alejandro Amenábar Mateo Gil The Sea Inside Mar adentro Fatih Akin Head-On Gegen die Wand / Duvara Karşı2005(18th) Hany Abu-Assad Bero Beyer Paradise Now الجنّة الآن Anders Thomas Jensen Adam's Apples Adams Æbler Brothers Brødre Cristi Puiu Răzvan Rădulescu The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Moartea domnului Lăzărescu Dani Levy Holger Franke Go for Zucker! Alles auf Zucker! Michael Haneke Hidden Caché Mark O'Halloran Adam & Paul 2006(19th) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck The Lives of Others Das Leben der Anderen Pedro Almodóvar Volver Paul Laverty The Wind That Shakes the Barley Corneliu Porumboiu 12:08 East of Bucharest A fost sau n-a fost?2007(20th) Fatih Akin The Edge of Heaven Auf der anderen Seite Eran Kolirin The Band's Visit ביקור התזמורת Peter Morgan The Queen Cristian Mungiu 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 4 luni, 3 săptămâni și 2 zile2008(21st) Matteo Garrone Roberto Saviano Maurizio Braucci Ugo Chiti Gianni Di Gregorio Massimo Gaudioso Gomorrah Gomorra Ari Folman Waltz with Bashir ואלס עם באשיר Suha Arraf Eran Riklis Lemon Tree شجرة ليمون / עץ לימון Paolo Sorrentino Il Divo 2009(22nd) Michael Haneke The White Ribbon Das weiße Band Jacques Audiard Thomas Bidegain A Prophet Un prophète Simon Beaufoy Slumdog Millionaire Gianni Di Gregorio Mid-August Lunch Pranzo di ferragosto
2010s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title2010(23rd) Robert Harris Roman Polanski The Ghost Writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría Daniel Monzón Cell 211 Celda 211 Samuel Maoz Lebanon Radu Mihăileanu The Concert Le concert2011(24th) Jean-Pierre Dardenne Luc Dardenne The Kid with a Bike Le Gamin au vélo Anders Thomas Jensen In a Better World Hævnen Aki Kaurismäki Le Havre Lars von Trier Melancholia 2012(25th) Tobias Lindholm Thomas Vinterberg The Hunt Jagten Cristian Mungiu Beyond the Hills După dealuri Michael Haneke Amour Roman Polanski Yasmina Reza Carnage Olivier Nakache Éric Toledano Untouchable Intouchables2013(26th) François Ozon In the House Dans la maison Paolo Sorrentino Umberto Contarello The Great Beauty La grande bellezza Tom Stoppard Anna Karenina Giuseppe Tornatore The Best Offer La migliore offerta Felix Van Groeningen Carl Joos The Broken Circle Breakdown 2014(27th) Paweł Pawlikowski Rebecca Lenkiewicz Ida Ebru Ceylan Nuri Bilge Ceylan Winter Sleep Kış Uykusu Jean-Pierre Dardenne Luc Dardenne Two Days, One Night Deux jours, une nuit Steven Knight Locke Oleg Negin Andrey Zvyagintsev Leviathan Левиафан2015(28th) Yorgos Lanthimos Efthimis Filippou The Lobster Radu Jude Florin Lazarescu Aferim! Alex Garland Ex Machina Andrew Haigh 45 Years Roy Andersson A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron Paolo Sorrentino Youth Youth - La giovinezza2016(28th) Maren Ade Toni Erdmann Paul Laverty I, Daniel Blake Emma Donoghue Room Cristian Mungiu Graduation Bacalaureat Tomasz Wasilewski United States of Love Zjednoczone stany milosci2017(30th) Ruben Östlund The Square Ildikó Enyedi On Body and Soul Testről és lélekről Yorgos Lanthimos Efthimis Filippou The Killing of a Sacred Deer Oleg Negin Andrey Zvyagintsev Loveless Nelyubov François Ozon Frantz 2018(31st) Paweł Pawlikowski Cold WarZimna wojna Ali Abbasi Isabella Eklöf John Ajvide LindqvistBorderGräns Matteo Garrone Ugo Chiti Massimo Gaudioso Dogman Gustav Möller Emil Nygaard Albertsen The GuiltyDen skyldige Alice Rohrwacher Happy as LazzaroLazzaro felice2019(32nd) Céline Sciamma Portrait of a Lady on FirePortrait de la jeune fille en feu Pedro AlmodóvarPain and GloryDolor y gloria Marco Bellocchio Valia Santella Ludovica Rampoldi Francesco Piccolo Francesco La LicataThe TraitorIl traditore Ladj Ly Giordano Gederlini Alexis ManentiLes Misérables Roman Polanski Robert Harris An Officer and a SpyJ'Accuse
2020s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title2020(33rd) Thomas Vinterberg Tobias Lindholm Another RoundDruk Martin Behnke Burhan QurbaniBerlin Alexanderplatz Costa-Gavras Adults in the RoomΕνήλικοι στην αίθουσα (Enílikoi stin aíthousa) Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo Bad Tales Favolacce Pietro Marcello Maurizio Braucci Martin Eden Mateusz Pacewicz Corpus Christi Boże Ciało2021(34th) Florian Zeller Christopher HamptonThe Father Radu Jude Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc Paolo Sorrentino The Hand of God È stata la mano di Dio Jasmila Žbanić Quo Vadis, Aida? Joachim Trier Eskil Vogt The Worst Person in the World Verdens verste menneske 2022(35th) Ruben Östlund Triangle of Sadness Arnau Vilaró Carla Simón Alcarràs Kenneth Branagh Belfast Lukas Dhont Angelo Tijssens Close Ali Abbasi Afshin Kamran Bahrami Holy Spider 2023(36th) Arthur Harari Justine Triet Anatomy of a Fall Anatomie d'une chute Aki Kaurismäki Fallen Leaves Kuolleet lehdet Agnieszka Holland Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko Maciej Pisuk Green Border Zielona granica İlker Çatak Johannes Duncker The Teachers' Lounge Das Lehrerzimmer Jonathan Glazer The Zone of Interest 2024(37th) Jacques Audiard Emilia Pérez Magnus von Horn Line LangebekThe Girl with the Needle Pedro AlmodóvarThe Room Next Door Mohammad RasoulofThe Seed of the Sacred Fig Coralie FargeatThe Substance 2025(38th) Eskil VogtJoachim Trier Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Santiago FillolOliver Laxe Sirāt Jafar Panahi It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Mascha SchilinskiLouise Peter Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen Paolo Sorrentino La grazia
Most wins by screenwriter
Screenwriter Awards Nominations Jean-Pierre Bacri23 Agnès Jaoui23 Paweł Pawlikowski22 István Szabó22 Ruben Östlund22 Tobias Lindholm22 Thomas Vinterberg22 Pedro Almodóvar15 Michael Haneke14 Jacques Audiard13 François Ozon13 Dardenne brothers12 Roman Polanski12 Fatih Akin12 Ugo Chiti12 Efthimis Filippou12 Matteo Garrone12 Massimo Gaudioso12 Yorgos Lanthimos12 Joachim Trier12 Eskil Vogt12 Paolo Sorrentino05 Paul Laverty04 Anders Thomas Jensen03 Aki Kaurismäki03 Cristian Mungiu03 Lars von Trier03 Ali Abbasi02 Maurizio Braucci02 Gianni Di Gregorio02 Robert Harris02 Radu Jude02 Steven Knight02 Oleg Negin02 Andrey Zvyagintsev02
References
External links European Film Academy archive