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.
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 picked up a best screenplay nomination for Bad Luck Banging, 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.
Anthony Hopkins could add a European Actor trophy to his best acting Oscar for The Father. The Welsh star goes up against French veteran Vincent Lindon, nominated 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 Norwegian, Italian and French international feature contenders, the EFA nominees this year also include Danish entry Flee — Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary is up for best European animation film and the best documentary honor, Malta’s Oscar entry — Alex Camilleri’s fishing drama Luzzu — Kira Kovalenko’s Russian Oscar contender Unclenching the Fists.
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 Animated Feature Film
Flee, dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Even Mice Belong in Heaven, dirs.Jan Bubenicek, Denisa Grimmová
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
Source: HollyWood
