By Ray Bennett
Eran Kolirin’s delightful “The Band’s Visit” picked up the discovery of the year award at the European Film Awards Saturday night and Sasson Gabai (pictured with Ronit Elkmbetz), who plays the leader of an Egyptian ceremonial police band adrift in Israel, was named best actor.
Otherwise there were few surprises as the Romanian Palme d’Or winner “4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 Days” was named best film, Oscar and BAFTA-winner Helen Mirren won for best actress for “The Queen”.
Fatih Akin picked up the screenplay award for “The Edge of Heaven,” as he did at the Festival de Cannes. Alexandre Desplat added to his BAFTA prize as best composer for “The Queen.”
Here’s the Reuters report