38th European Film Awards (EFA) Shortlist: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘It Was Just an Accident,’ ‘Sentimental Value’ and More Make the Cut
The European Film Academy revealed the shortlist of 67 films that will be in contention for its EFA Awards, which will announce its nominations on November 18, including high profile Cannes winners and potential Oscar contenders in the International Feature Film category and more.
The shortlist includes 44 feature films, 15 documentary films and eight animated feature films.
While expected mentions of titles like Joachim Trier’s Cannes Grand Prize winner Sentimental Value made the list, the inclusion of Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident does raise eyebrows. As the name of org implies, films, directors, actors and craftspeople must be from Europe and, unlike last year’s nominee Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig), Panahi is not in exile and cannot claim citizenship in the EU. Bugonia, while having a European director and craftspeople, is comprised entirely of American actors in front of the camera (who cannot be nominated here) but is included here. Conversely, Nouvelle Vague and Hamnet have European actors but American directors (and almost entirely European crews) both are missing from the shortlist. The inclusion of Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Voice of Hind Rajab is also interesting, as it was made entirely out of the European continent.
13 shortlisted titles are also official country submissions for the International Feature Film Oscar. They are: Father (Slovakia), Franz (Poland), It Was Just an Accident (Franz), Late Shift (Switzerland), Little Trouble Girls (Slovenia), The Love That Remains (Iceland), One of Those Days When Hemme Dies (Turkey), Palestine 36 (Palestine), Sentimental Value (Norway), Sirāt (Spain), Sound of Falling (Germany), The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), and Young Mothers (Belgium).
The 15-film documentary shortlist includes Adres Veiel’s Venice premiere Riefenstahl, Kamal Aljafari’s Locarno premiere With Hasan In Gaza, and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title Militantropos about the Ukraine war.
The European Film Academy Lux Award is a prize given to a competing film by the European Film Academy and the European Parliament. The Lux Award nominees this year are: Christy, Deaf, It Was Just an Accident, Love Me Tender and Sentimental Value. Last year’s winner was Flow, which also won the EFA for animated feature on its way to the Oscar.
The shortlisted feature and documentary films were chosen by members of the European Film Academy board and invited European experts, while the shortlisted animated feature films were chosen by a selection committee composed of members of the Academy Board and invited experts in cooperation with the European Association of Animation Film.
In the coming weeks, the 5,400 members of the European Film Academy will watch the shortlisted films and vote for the nominations, except for the categories European Young Audience Award, Lux Audience Award and the honorary awards.
Nominations for Best European film, director, discovery, documentary, animated feature, actress, actor and screenwriter will be announced on November 18 during the Seville European Film Festival. On November 26, the nominations for the craft categories will be announced.
Winners will be announced on January 17 at a ceremony in Berlin. Here are the shortlisted films in contention.
Feature Films (44)
- Bearcave (Arkoudotrypa) – Dir. Krysianna B. Papadakis & Stergios Dinopoulos (Gre-UK)
- Bugonia – Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (UK-USA-Kor)
- Case 137 (Dossier 137) – Dir. Dominik Moll (Fra)
- Christy – Dir. Brendan Canty (Ire-UK)
- Deaf (Sorda) – Dir. Eva Libertad (Esp)
- Die My Love – Dir. Lynne Ramsay (UK-USA-Can)
- Dreams (Drømmer) – Dir. Dag Johan Haugerud (Nor)
- Duse – Dir. Pietro Marcello (Ita-Fra)
- Father (Otec) – Dir. Tereza Nvotová (Svk-Cze-Pol)
- Franz – Dir. Agnieszka Holland (Cze-Ger-Pol)
- Fuori – Dir. Mario Martone (Ita-Fra)
- I Only Rest in the Storm (O Riso e a Faca) – Dir. Pedro Pinho (Por-Fra-Bra-Rom)
- It Was Just an Accident (Un Simple Accident) – Dir. Jafar Panahi (Fra-Irn-Lux)
- La Grazia – Dir. Paolo Sorrentino (Ita)
- Late Shift (Heldin) – Dir. Petra Volpe (Sui-Ger)
- Little Trouble Girls (Kaj Ti Je Deklica) – Dir. Urška Djukić (Slo-Ita-Cro-Srb)
- Love Me Tender – Dir. Anna Cazenave Cambet (Fra)
- Loveable (Elskling) – Dir. Lilja Ingolfsdottir (Nor)
- Maspalomas – Dir. Jose Mari Goenaga & Aitor Arregi (Esp)
- Milk Teeth (Dinti de Lapte) – Dir. Mihai Mincan (Rom-Fra-Den-Gre-Bul)
- Mirrors No. 3 (Miroirs No. 3) – Dir. Christian Petzold (Ger)
- Mother – Dir. Teona Strugar Mitevska (MKD-Bel)
- On Falling – Dir. Laura Carreira (UK-Por)
- Once Upon a Time in Gaza – Dir. Tarzan Nasser & Arab Nasser (Fra-Pal-Ger-Por-Qat-Jor)
- One of Those Days When Hemme Dies (Hemme’nin Öldüğü Günlerden Biri) – Dir. Murat Fıratoğlu (Tur-Ger)
- Palestine 36 – Dir. Annemarie Jacir (Pal-UK-Fra-Den-Nor)
- Pillion – Dir. Harry Lighton (UK)
- Romeria (Romería) – Dir. Carla Simón (Esp-Ger)
- Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) – Dir. Joachim Trier (Nor-Fra-Den-Ger-Swe)
- Silent Friend – Dir. Ildikó Enyedi (Ger-Fra-Hun)
- Sirat (Sirāt) – Dir. Oliver Laxe (Esp-Fra)
- Sleepless City (Ciudad Sin Sueño) – Dir. Guillermo Galoe (Esp-Fra)
- Sound of Falling (In Die Sonne Schauen) – Dir. Mascha Schilinski (Ger)
- Sundays (Los Domingos) – Dir. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Esp)
- The Last Viking (Den Sidste Viking) – Dir. Anders Thomas Jensen (Den-Swe)
- The Little Sister (La Petite Dernière) – Dir. Hafsia Herzi (Fra-Ger)
- The Love That Remains (Ástin Sem Eftir Er) – Dir. Hlynur Pálmason (Ice-Den-Swe-Fra)
- The North – Dir. Bart Schrijver (Ned)
- The Stranger (L’Étranger) – Dir. François Ozon (Fra)
- The Voice of Hind Rajab – Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania (Fra-Tun)
- Two Prosecutors – Dir. Sergei Loznitsa (Fra-Ger-Ned-Lva-Rom-Ltu)
- What Marielle Knows (Was Marielle Weiss) – Dir. Frédéric Hambalek (Ger)
- Yes (Ken) – Dir. Nadav Lapid (Fra-Isr-Cyp-Ger)
- Young Mothers (Jeunes Mères) – Dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (Bel-Fra)
Documentary Films (15)
- Afternoons of Solitude (Tardes de Soledad) – Dir. Albert Serra (Esp-Fra)
- An American Pastoral (Une Pastorale Americaine) – Dir. Auberi Edler (Fra)
- Ancestral Visions of the Future – Dir. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Fra-Lso-Ger-Qat-Sau)
- Fiume o Morte! – Dir. Igor Bezinović (Cro-Slo-Ita)
- Flophouse America – Dir. Monica Strømdahl (Nor-Ned-USA)
- Good Valley Stories (Historias del Buen Valle) – Dir. José Luis Guerin (Esp-Fra)
- Hair, Paper, Water… (Tóc, Giấy Và Nước…) – Dir. Nicolas Graux & Minh Quý Trương (Bel-Fra-Vie)
- Listen to the Voices (Kouté Vwa) – Dir. Maxime Jean-Baptiste (Bel-Fra)
- Memory – Dir. Vladlena Sandu (Fra-Ned)
- Militantropos – Dir. Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova & Simon Mozgovyi (Ukr-Aus-Fra)
- Riefenstahl – Dir. Andres Veiel (Ger)
- Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Pisni Zemli Shscho Povolno Horyt) – Dir. Olha Zhurba (Ukr-Fra-Den-Swe)
- The Shards (Oskolky) – Dir. Masha Chernaya (Geo-Ger)
- TWST / Things We Said Today – Dir. Andrei Ujică (Fra-Rom)
- With Hasan in Gaza – Dir. Kamal Aljafari (Ger)
Animated Feature Films (8)
- Arco – Dir. Ugo Bienvenu (Fra)
- Balentes – Dir. Giovanni Columbu (Ita-Ger)
- Checkered Ninja 3 (Ternet Ninja 3) – Dir. Anders Matthesen & Thorbjørn Christoffersen (Den)
- Dandelion’s Odyssey (Planetes) – Dir. Momoko Seto (Fra)
- Dog of God (Dieva Suns) – Dir. Raitis Abele & Lauris Abele (Lat-USA)
- Little Amelie (Amélie et la Métaphysique des Tubes) – Dir. Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han (Fra)
- Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake (L’Olívia i el Terratrèmol Invisible) – Dir. Irene Iborra Rizo (Esp-Fra-Bel-Sui-Chi)
- Tales from the Magic Garden (Pohadky po Babicce) – Dir. David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar & Jean-Claude Rozec (Cze-Svk-Slo-Fra)
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