The Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund and the Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund are pleased to reveal the winner of the ninth edition of the prestigious Audentia Award for Best Female Director: Paola Cortellesi for the film There’s Still Tomorrow.

The film takes place in postwar 1940’s Italy and follows Delia (Paola Cortellesi) breaking traditional family patterns and aspiring to a different future, after receiving a mysterious letter. Paola Cortellesi  has already won two David di Donatello Awards in 2024 – Best New Director and Best Actress, and the film won several awards as Best Film at Sydney Film Festival, Göteborg Film Festival, International Rome Film Fest and the Golden Globes (Italy).

The jury which selected this film included: Iram Haq, Norwegian director and actress; Ståle Stein Berg, scriptwriter and Head of Development at the Norwegian production company Maipo; and Benedikte Danielsen, Production advisor for co-production and international financing at the Norwegian Film Institute. She also represents Norway in the Eurimages Film Fund.

In announcing the award, the jury commented on There’s Still Tomorrow:

“We were captivated by the film's extraordinary formal precision, cinematic playfulness, and its unique ability to blend a classic melodrama with both serious themes and humor. All of this is woven together with a clever social commentary. 

The film is a nostalgic, and at the same time truly original, genre pastiche that allows us to see our contemporary world through new eyes. Little did we know that a clever revitalization of Italian neorealism was exactly what we needed today, nor that the portrayal of domestic violence, women's struggle, and societal development could be handled with such effortless ease and wit. 

It is therefore our great pleasure to award this year's Audentia Award to Paola Cortellesi for what we consider a modern masterpiece: the film There's Still Tomorrow.