Euro 2024 Film Spotlight Results

Now that the football version of Euro 2024 is in the books, it is time to unveil results of the film version of Euro 2024. Like previous film spotlight tournaments, match-ups between films in Group and Knock-out phases are decided by the 5 categories of Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography and Production Values. In the group phases, the difference is that a win for a film is worth 3 points while a tie is 1 point. In the Knock-out rounds, the winner is decided by the maximum score in the 5 categories of Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography and Production.

16 films advance to the Knock-out rounds, with the top two films from each group plus top 4 third-placed films. The top 2 advancing out of the 8 Groups are shown in green.

Group A

Germany: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)
Switzerland: The Boat is Full (1981, Markus Imhoof)
Hungary: Satantango (1994, Béla Tarr)
Scotland: Gregory’s girl (1980, Bill Forsyth)

Hungary (Satantango): 9
Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God): 6
Scotland (Gregory’s girl): 3
Switzerland (The Boat is Full): 0

Group B

Spain: Death of a Cyclist (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem)
Italy: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)
Albania: Daybreak (2017, Gentian Koçi)
Croatia: Buick Riviera (2008, Goran Rusinovic)

Italy (The Battle of Algiers): 9
Spain (Death of a Cyclist): 6
Croatia (Buick Riviera): 3
Albania (Daybreak): 0

Group C

Slovenia: Spare Parts (2003, Damjan Kozole)
Denmark: Babette’s Feast (1987, Gabriel Axel)
Serbia: Underground (1995, Emir Kusturica)
England: The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)

Serbia (Underground): 7
England (The Third Man): 5
Denmark (Babette’s Feast):  2
Slovenia (Spare Parts): 1

Group D

Poland: Dekalog (1989/90, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Holland: The Vanishing (1988, George Sluizer)
Austria: Homo Sapiens (2016, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
France: Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)

France (Pickpocket): 9
Poland (Dekalog): 4
Austria (Homo Sapiens): 2
Holland (The Vanishing): 1

Group E

Belgium: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Chantal Akerman)
Slovakia: Orbis Pictus (1997, Martin Sulík)
Romania:  The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Cristi Puiu)
Ukraine:  My Joy (2010, Sergey Loznitsa)

Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu): 9
Ukraine (My Joy): 4
Belgium (Jeanne Dielman): 4
Slovakia (Orbis Pictus): 0

Ukraine edges out Belgium to win second place by the slightest margin.

Group F

Turkey: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Georgia: What Do We See When We Look At the Sky? (2021, Aleksandre Koberidze)
Portugal:  Mudar de Vida (Change of Life, 1966, Paulo Rocha)
Czech Republic: Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jirí Menzel)

Turkey (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia): 9
Portugal (Change of Life): 6
Georgia (What Do We See When We Look At the Sky?): 3
Czech Republic (Closely Watched Trains): 0

Top 4 third placed films:

1st: Belgium (Group E)
2nd: Croatia (Group B)
3rd: Georgia (Group F)
4th: Scotland (Group A)

Round of 16 Draw and Results:

Hungary (Satantango) vs England (The Third Man)

Hungary wins 3-2 on the basis of Direction, Cinematography and Production while England scores on Acting and Story.

Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God) vs Spain (Death of a Cyclist)

Germany wins 5-2 over Spain.

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs Belgium (Jeanne Dielman)

Italy wins 5-2 over Belgium.

Serbia (Underground) vs Georgia (What Do We See When We Look At the Sky?)

Serbia wins 5-1.

Turkey (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) vs Scotland (Gregory’s Girl)

Turkey wins 4-1.

Poland (Dekalog) vs Ukraine (My Joy)

In a very close encounter, Poland edges out Ukraine 4-3.

Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) vs Croatia (Buick Riviera)

Romania narrowly wins out 4-3 over Croatia.

France (Pickpocket) vs Portugal (Change of Life)

In a match-up of two stellar films, France wins out 5-2.

Quarter-Finals: 8 films that are part of canons and best of lists

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs Hungary (Satantango)

Italy wins 5-2 over Hungary.

Turkey (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) vs Poland (Dekalog)

In another hard fought close match-up, the Polish film edges out the Turkish entry 4-3.

Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) vs France (Pickpocket)

The French film wins 5-3 over the Romanian film.

Serbia (Underground) vs Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)

Germany wins 5-4 over Serbia.

Semi-Finals: 4 giant films battle it out

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs Poland (Dekalog)

Italy wins 5-4 over Poland, with the stellar cinematography of Gillo Pontecorvo’s film being the edge.

France (Pickpocket)  vs Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)

France wins 4-3 over Germany.

Euro 2024 Film Final: Two classic films

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs France (Pickpocket)

Italy wins 5-4, with a tiny edge in the overall Production category. That is understandable given the larger scope of The Battle of Algiers over Pickpocket.

Euro 2024 Film Winner: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)