When her name rang out on Saturday night in the Harpa Conference and Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the best actress of the 35th European Film Awards ceremony, Vicky Krieps’ reaction was not instantaneous. While the other nominees--Léa Seydoux (Un beau matin by Mia Hansen-Løve), Penélope Cruz (Madres paralelas by Pedro Almodóvar), Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi) and Meltem Kaptan (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush by Andreas Dresen)--who were present in the room were already applauding her, it took the Luxembourg actress a short second to react on her computer screen. A lapse of time probably due to the transmission delays between Iceland and the west coast of America, where she seems to be staying at the moment (if we are to believe the latest posts on her instagram account). Or maybe she just needed a split second to realise what was said. And then she turned her head for a brief moment and brought her hands to it, as if she didn’t believe what she’d just heard.

“I didn't prepare anything.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t prepare anything. I don’t have a good relationship with awards,” commented a visibly moved Krieps. “I want to dedicate this to all women who need to be heard and seen. This need to heal from the deep wounds that we have carried for generations. And that we need to heal so that men and women can come together.” She clarified this message a few minutes later on her Instagram account.

She then thanked Marie Kreutzer, the Austrian director of Corsage, as well as her children for having accompanied her in this project.

Film award season is coming soon

This feature film has already earned the Luxembourger a good harvest of honours and awards this year. These include the , an acting award at the Sarajevo Film Festival and, last week, a mention in . And perhaps even more, with the season of the most prestigious film awards ceremonies in the seventh art (Golden Globes, Oscars, BAFTA, etc.) at the beginning of 2023.

Besides Krieps’ win--which was hailed by Prime Minister (DP) on Twitter on Saturday evening--Corsage, co-produced by Samsa Film and , did not win the other two categories in which it was nominated (European film of the year and director of the year).

The European Film Awards were largely dominated by Ruben Östlund’s tragi-comedy Triangle of Sadness (Sans filtre). Already the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, it won four of the most important awards: European film of the year, European director of the year, European screenwriter of the year and best actor (for the Croatian-Danish actor Zlatko Buric).

Finally, the three other Luxembourg co-productions in the running did not win. My Love Affair with Marriage (Anteviva Films) and Le Petit Nicolas - Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux (Bidibul Productions) were beaten by Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens in the category of best animated film. Pamfir (Wady Media) also won in the European Discovery Prix Fipresci category.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.