25th European Film Awards Nominations

A few minutes ago at the Seville European Film Festival the European Film Academy announced the nominations for this year. Most were expected but there is one huge surprise.

Please remember that the award calendar runs from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 and is the reason why the nominations have films from last year. Also, the films must have a director who was born in Europe or has a European passport and Europe has a geographical definition.

European Film
Amour (Love), Michael Haneke, Austria, France and Germany
Barbara, Christian Petzold, Germany
Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy
Intouchables (Untouchable), Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, France
Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterverg, Denmark
Shame, Steve McQueen, UK

European Director
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia)
Michael Haneke for Amour (Love)
Steve McQueen for Shame
Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani for Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die)
Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt

European Actress
Emilie Dequene in À perdre la raison (Our Children)
Nina Hoss in Barbara
Emmanuelle Riva in Amour (Love)
Margarethe Tiesel In Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love)
Kate Winslet in Carnage

European Actor
François Cluzet & Omar Sy in Intouchables (Untouchable)
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Mads Mikkelsen in Jagten (The Hunt)
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour (Love)

European Screenwriter
Michael Haneke for Amour (Love)
Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt)
Cristian Mungiu for După dealuri (Beyond the Hills)
Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano for Intouchables (Untouchable)
Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza for Carnage

Carlo di Palma European Cinematographer Award
Sean Bobbitt for Shame
Bruno Delbonnel for Faust
Darius Khondji for Amour (Love)
Gökhan Tiryaki for Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia)
Hoyte Van Hoytema for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

European Editor
Janus Billeskov Jansen & Anne Østerud for Jagten (The Hunt)
Roberto Perpignani for Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die)
Joe Walker for Shame

European Production Designer
Maria Djurkovic for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Niels Sejer for En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair)
Elena Zhukova for Faust

European Composer
Cyrille Aufort & Gabriel Yared for En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair)
François Couturier for Io Sono Li (Shun Li and the Poet)
George Fenton for The Angels' Share
Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

European Documentary
Hiver Nomade (Winter Nomads), Manuel von Stürler, Switzerland
London - The Modern Babylon, Julien Temple, UK
Le thé ou l'électricité (Tea or Electricity), Jérôme le Maire, Belgium, France and Morocco

European Animated Feature Film
Alois Nebel, Tomáš Luňák, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia
Arrugas (Wrinkles), Ignacio Ferreras, Spain
The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists, Peter Lord, USA and UK

European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI
10 Timer Til Paradis (Teddy Bear), Mads Matthiesen, Denmark
Broken, Rufus Norris, UK
Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands
Портрет в сумерках Portret V Sumerkhak (Twilight Portrait), Angelina Nikonova, Russia
Die Vermissten (Reported Missing), Jan Speckenbach, Germany

As we know the European Achievement in World Cinema this year goes to Dame Helen Mirren. To learn nominees in the Short Film category please go to this post.

The more than 2,700 EFA members will now vote for the winners who will be presented during the awards ceremony on December 1st in Malta. To read info about each film go here.

My biggest surprise is the total absence of Jacques Audiard film and Marion Cotillard not getting a nomination. Unbelievable. But as unbelievable are the many nominations the other French film got, yes that film, the film that is France submission to Oscar. Now seems will be easier to guess what could happen at the Oscars in the foreign-language category and beyond. Nevertheless, this Academy has always given us surprises that sometimes do not reflect what Oscar could do, like for example, last year Melancholia winning the top award.

Still, I hope that this is Michael Haneke's year and Amour sweeps the awards as is the film with the most nominations (6). In 28 days we will know if the Academy celebrates Haneke with well-deserved honors.

Last but not least I am pleased that some of my favorite and most admired directors are being honored with a well-deserved nomination including Haneke but also Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Cristian Mungiu; plus do not mind that Steve McQueen's excellent Shame got five (5) nominations, including one for Michael Fassbender. Somehow this year the Actress category does not excite me that much as really enjoyed Nina Hoss performance but know that probably Emmanuelle Riva will get the award. There is one movie nominated to the top award that I could not watch but maybe now will try to see it again hoping that I can see it up to the end; also will see the film (the other French film) I have been avoiding to see even when I know will like it as is a mainstream crowd-pleader. Sigh.