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    The Academy Honours Alice Rohrwacher with the EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA Award 

    On the occasion the 38th European Film Awards in January 2026, and in recognition of a unique contribution to the world of film, the European Film Academy takes great pleasure in presenting Alice Rohrwacher with the EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA Award for her unusual and inspiring body of work. 

    Born in Tuscany, Alice Rohrwacher graduated from the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy in Turin and from the documentary school in Lisbon, Portugal. With a careful eye for the realities of a teenager’s life and a big heart for the countryside, she creates a unique universe for each of her films. Following the characters along their path with great sensitivity, she leaves space for all the quirky, unexpected and poetic little details. Because of all of that, Alice Rohrwacher is one of contemporary cinema’s most distinctive voices world-wide. 

    © Brigitte Lacombe

    Her feature debut CORPO CELESTE (2011) observes young Marta who, having moved back to the South of Italy with her family, is experiencing a difficult time trying to find her place with all the personal, religious and social changes in her life. The film premiered in Cannes and was nominated for the Italian David di Donatello Awards.

    Also portraying the often-neglected life of teenagers in the countryside, with THE WONDERS (2014) she looks at Gelsomina and her younger sisters in a German-Italian beekeeping family, and the challenges of a rural TV show. The film premiered in Cannes and received the Grand Prize of the Jury.  

    HAPPY AS LAZZARO (2018) also ran in competition in Cannes and won Best Screenplay. Young Lazzaro lives in a village where he, like all inhabitants, has been regularly exploited by the local baroness until one day the improbable friendship to a young nobleman brings isolation to an end. In an otherwise Italian cast, the film also features Spanish actor Sergi López. The film was later nominated for the Italian David di Donatello Awards and for the European Film Awards where it won the European University Film Award.  

    In continuation of this curious interest in the world of teenagers, FUTURA (2021) offers a portrait of Italy as seen through the eyes of teenagers. 

    LA CHIMERA (2023) follows a group of grave-robbers who make a living by looting Etruscan tombs and selling the artefacts. The film stars British actor Josh O’Connor, who was promptly nominated for the European Film Awards, the director’s sister Alba Rohrwacher and Isabella Rossellini. It ran in competition in Cannes and was nominated for the Italian David di Donatello award, the Spanish Goya, and the Danish Robert, and won Emita Frigato European Production Designer at the European Film Awards. 

    Alice Rohrwacher’s latest short film, LE PUPILLE, was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Oscars. 

    In honouring this outstanding artist, the award also pays tribute to her longstanding collaboration with producer Carlo Cresto-Dina and tempesta, which produced all of Alice Rohrwacher’s feature films.

    Alice Rohrwacher and tempesta will be honorary guests at the 38th European Film Awards Ceremony on 17 January 2026 in Berlin – to be streamed live on  www.europeanfilmawards.eu