Audentia Award

The Audentia Award, established by Eurimages in 2016, celebrates outstanding achievements by female directors and aims to boost visibility and recognition for women in cinema. The name “Audentia” is derived from the Latin for “courage,” reflecting both the spirit of the award and the women filmmakers it celebrates.

The award is presented annually at a different international film festival. Each cycle features three different festivals chosen by the Board of Management further to recommendations from independent experts working in the audiovisual industry.

In its current format, the Audentia Award honours the best female director selected each year by an expert jury, awarding €30,000 to support her next project.

The hosting of the Audentia Award during the period 2027–2029 is implemented as set out in the Call for proposals specifications published in early 2026 published in early 2026.

Further to the recommendations by the independent experts, the Board of Management has decided during its meeting on 25 and 26 June 2026 to support the following festivals for hosting the Audentia Award for the upcoming cycle 2027-2029:

2027 Reykjavik International Film Festival (Iceland)
2028 Sofia DocuMental (Bulgaria)
2029 St. John's International Women's Film Festival Inc. (Canada)

Previous editions

In 2025, Eurimages and the Cork International Film Festival presented the winner of the tenth edition of the prestigious Audentia Award for Best Female Director: Janicke Askevold for the film Solomamma.

A 2025 drama film based on a screenplay that Janicke Askevold wrote with Jørgen Færøy Flasnes and Mads Stegger, it is a co-production between Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, and Finland.

The film is about Edith, played by Lisa Loven Kongsli, a journalist aged 40 who decides to become a single mum with the help of a sperm donation. But the challenges of solo parenting prove rather different than she expected and when the identity of the donor unexpectedly surfaces, Edith decides to seek him out. Supported by Herbert Nordrum as Niels, Céline Engbrightsen, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Nasrin Khusrawi, and Kaveh Tehrani, the film portrays important contemporary feminist and societal themes.

The jury which selected this film included Jane Yao, Producer and Programmer, Alex Pentek, Contemporary Artist and Sculptor and Emma Scott, head of Audiences, Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland, who also represents Ireland on Eurimages’ Board of Management.

In announcing the award, the jury commented on Solomamma: “It is an aesthetically rich portrayal of a woman determined to live life on her own terms, prioritising her desires above imposed rules. The film conveys the message that the meaning of a family lies in love and respect, which matter more than blood ties. It's an elegant and straightforward film that also carries a bittersweet moment in life, but it combines this with rejuvenating humour. It explores what it means to stand by one's values and make alternative choices. It is therefore our great pleasure to award this year's Audentia Award to Janicke Askevold for what we consider a noteworthy film experience.”