Paolo Sorrentino’s Italian coming-of-age drama The Hand of God, Juho Kuosmanen’s Finnish road movie Compartment No. 6 and Julia Ducournau’s French body horror movie Titane, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, are among the nominees for best European film for the 2021 European Film Awards (EFAs).
All three films are Oscar contenders for the 2022 Academy Awards in the best international feature category.
Also in the running for the 2021 EFA for best European film are Florian Zeller’s The Father and Jasmila Zbanic’s Oscar-nominated Bosnian war drama Quo Vadis, Aida?
The 2021 European Film Awards nominees were unveiled Tuesday at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain.
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Ducornau, Sorrentino, Zbanic and Zeller also picked up nominations for best European director, joined by Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, nominated for his Berlin film festival winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn.
Jude also nabbed a best screenplay nomination for Bad Luck Banging (Romanian’s official 2022 Oscar contender) alongside Sorrentino for Hand of God, Zbanic for Quo Vadis, Aida?, Zeller and The Father co-writer Christopher Hampton, and Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, co-writers on Norwegian dramedy The Worst Person in the World.
Quo Vadis, Aida? lead Jasna Duricic received a best actress nomination for her role as a Bosnia translator trying to save her family from the Srebrenica massacre. She goes up against Carey Mulligan, nominated for Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, Seidi Haarla for Compartment No. 6, Titane star Agathe Rousselle and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve for The Worst Person in the World, a performance that earned Reinsve the best actress honor in Cannes. Worst Person is Norway’s Academy Award contender in the best international feature category.
Anthony Hopkins could add a best European actor trophy to his best acting Oscar for The Father. The Welsh star is nominated alongside French veteran Vincent Lindon, up for his role for Titane, Russian actor Yuriy Borisov (Compartment No. 6), Germany’s Franz Rogowski (Great Freedom) and French actor Tahar Rahim, nominated for his starring role in Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian.
The European Film Awards have often been a bellwether for the Academy Awards. Thomas Vinterberg’s Danish drinking dramedy Another Round swept the 2020 EFAs, taking best film, director, screenplay and best actor honors for star Mads Mikkelsen, en route to a successful Oscar campaign that ended with Vinterberg hoisting the Academy Award for best international film.
In addition to the Finnish, Norwegian, Italian, Romanian and French international feature contenders, the EFA nominees this year also includes Iceland entry Lamb, an EFA nominee in the European Discovery category, and Danish Oscar entry Flee — Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary is up for the best European animated feature film as well as the EFA for best documentary.
The 2021 European Film Awards will be held in Berlin on Dec. 11.
Find the full list of European Film Awards nominees below.
European Film
Compartment No. 6, dir. Juho Kuosmanen
The Father, dir. Florian Zeller
The Hand of God, dir. Paolo Sorrentino
Titane, dir. Julia Ducournau
Quo Vadis, Aida?, dir. Jasmila Zbanic
European Director
Julia Ducornau for Titane
Radu Jude for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Paolo Sorrentino for The Hand of God
Jasmila Zbanic for Quo Vadis, Aida?
Florian Zeller for The Father
European Actress
Jasna Duricic in Quo Vadis, Aida?
Seidi Haarla in Compartment No. 6
Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman
Renate Reinsve in The Worst Person in the World
Agathe Rousselle in Titane
European Actor
Yuriy Borisov in Compartment No. 6
Anthony Hopkins in The Father
Vincent Lindon in Titane
Tahar Rahim in The Mauritanian
Franz Rogowski in Great Freedom
European Screenwriter
Radu Jude for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Paolo Sorrentino for The Hand of God
Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt for The Worst Person in the World
Jasmila Zbanic for Quo Vadis, Aida?
Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton for The Father
European Comedy
Ninjababy, dir. Yngvild Sve Flikke
The Morning After, dir. Méliane Marcaggi
The People Upstairs, dir. Cesc Gay
European Animated Feature Film
Flee, dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Even Mice Belong in Heaven, dirs.Jan Bubenicek, Denisa Grimmová
The Ape Star, dir. Linda Hamback
Where is Anne Frank, dir. Ari Folman
Wolfwalkers, dir. Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
European Documentary
Babi Yar, Context, dir. Sergei Loznitsa
Flee, dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Mr. Bachmann and his Class, dir. Maria Speth
Taming the Garden, dir. Salomé Jashi
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, dirs. Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri
European Discovery – Prix Fipresci
Beginning, dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili
Lamb, dir. Valdimar Jóhannsson
Playground, dir. Laura Wandel
Pleasure, dir. Ninja Thyberg
Promising Young Woman, dir. Emerald Fennell
The Whaler Boy, dir. Philipp Yuryev
European Short Film
Bella, dir. Thelyia Petraki
Displaced, dir. Samir Karahoda
Easter Eggs, dir.Nicolas Keppens
In Flow of Words, dir. Eliane Esther Bots
My Uncle Tudor, dir. Olga Lucovnicova
