In 1980, Birkin won a BAFTA award and an Academy Award nomination for his short film "Sredni Vashtar", based on the short story by Saki, which he wrote, produced and directed for 20th Century Fox. In 1984 he wrote the shooting script for "The Name of the Rose" (in which he also had a small acting role), and in 1988 he wrote and directed "Burning Secret", based on the novel by Stefan Zweig, which won two awards at the 1989 Venice Film Festival, as well as the Young Jury prize for Best Film at the Brussels Film Festival. In 1993, Birkin wrote and directed "The Cement Garden", based on the novel by Ian McEwan, for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as Best Film at several film festivals, including Dinard, Fort Lauderdale, and Birmingham. In 1998 he collaborated with Luc Besson on the script of ', and in 2004 co-wrote the screenplay for '.