"Fallen Leaves" and "The Zone of Interest" lead the EFA nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Because of their specific focus and disconnection from the mainstream release calendar, the European Film Awards are rarely seen as part of the long road to Oscar. Then again, there's always the exception that proves the rule, and this year is exceptional, alright. Many Academy Award contenders showed up across the board, even beyond those submitted for the Best International Film category. Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest and Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves, for instance, scored nominations for Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, and Screenplay. Sandra Hüller even managed to double-dip, getting recognized for this Nazi nightmare and her turn in Justine Triet's Palme d'Or winner, Anatomy of a Fall.

Discover the complete list of European Film Awards nominations, plus some additional commentary, after the jump…

EUROPEAN FILM

• ANATOMY OF A FALL, directed by Justine Triet, produced by Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion (France)
• FALLEN LEAVES, directed by Aki Kaurismäki, produced by Aki Kaurismäki, Mark Lwoff, Misha Jaari & Reinhard Brundig (Finland, Germany)
• GREEN BORDER, directed by Agnieszka Holland, produced by Marcin Wierzchosławski, Fred Bernstein & Agnieszka Holland (Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium)
• ME CAPTAIN, directed by Matteo Garrone, produced by Matteo Garrone, Paolo Del Brocco, Ardavan Safaee & Joseph Rouschop (Italy, Belgium)
• THE ZONE OF INTEREST, directed by Jonathan Glazer, produced by James Wilson & Ewa Puszczyńska (United Kingdom, Poland, USA)

After Holland's struggle within her own country, it's good to see Green Border getting some love. It's not enough to compensate for governmental censure and right-wing hysteria, but it conveys a strong message. European filmmakers stand beside their colleague and her sharp vision of migrant mistreatment by Polish, Belarusian, and other European authorities. In the Best International Film Oscar race, Fallen Leaves represents Finland, Me Captain is Italy's submission, while The Zone of Interest bats for the United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY 

• APOLONIA, APOLONIA, Lea Glob (Denmark, Poland)
• FOUR DAUGHTERS, Kaouther Ben Hania (France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia)
• MOTHERLAND, Hanna Badziaka & Alexander Mihalkovich (Sweden, Ukraine, Norway)
• ON THE ADAMANT, Nicolas Philibert (France, Japan)
• SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD, Anna Hints (Estonia, France, Iceland)

It's interesting to note how, compared to the Cannes and Venice champions, this year's Berlinale winner has fallen through the cracks. On the Adamant deserves more love, and I hope this nomination leads more people to it. In the Oscar race, Four Daughters is Tunisia's submission, while Smoke Sauna Sisterhood represents Estonia.

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 

• Justine Triet, ANATOMY OF A FALL 
• Aki Kaurismäki, FALLEN LEAVES 
• Agnieszka Holland, GREEN BORDER 
• Matteo Garrone, ME CAPTAIN 
• Jonathan Glazer, THE ZONE OF INTEREST

An exact duplicate of the European Film ballot makes for a stark rebuttal of any "spread the wealth" wishes one might have. I confess I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of variety, even if this is an unimpeachable list. In other news, this is the first such nomination for both Triet and Glazer. Kaurismäki has three previous nominations, Garrone two, and Holland one. None of them has ever won.

EUROPEAN ACTRESS

• Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL
• Eka Chavleishvili, BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY 
• Alma Pöysti, FALLEN LEAVES 
• Mia McKenna-Bruce, HOW TO HAVE SEX  
• Leonie Benesch, THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE 
• Sandra Hüller, THE ZONE OF INTEREST 

This is the first time in EFA history that someone gets two Best Actress nominations in the same year. Hüller is also a previous winner, having taken the trophy in 2016 for Toni Erdmann. All the other nominees are first-timers. One should also note that The Teacher's Lounge is Germany's official Oscar submission.

EUROPEAN ACTOR

• Thomas Schubert, AFIRE
• Jussi Vatanen, FALLEN LEAVES
• Josh O'Connor, LA CHIMERA 
• Mads Mikkelsen, THE PROMISED LAND 
• Christian Friedel, THE ZONE OF INTEREST  

Before this year, Mads Mikkelsen already held the record for most nominated actor in EFA history, with four nods and one win for Another Round. Now, his record is even more impressive thanks to Denmark's submitted The Promised Land. He's the only previous contender in this year's ballot. All others are first-timers, similar to Best Actress.

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER

• Justine Triet & Arthur Harari, ANATOMY OF A FALL 
• Aki Kaurismäki, FALLEN LEAVES 
• Maciej Pisuk, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko & Agnieszka Holland, GREEN BORDER 
• İlker Çatak & Johannes Duncker, THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE 
• Jonathan Glazer, THE ZONE OF INTEREST 

It's surprising that, from the European Film nominees, Me Captain was the only one left out of the screenwriting ballot. I keep thinking Glazer will have a hard time getting writing honors for his minimalist adaptation of Martin Amis' novel, but I keep being proven wrong. Kaurismäki has been nominated twice before, but never won. Regarding his competition, this is their first screenwriting EFA nod.

EUROPEAN ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 

• A GREYHOUND OF A GIRL, Enzo d'Alò (Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, Latvia, Estonia, Germany)
• CHICKEN FOR LINDA!, Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach (France, Italy)
• ROBOT DREAMS, Pablo Berger (Spain, France)
• THE AMAZING MAURICE, Toby Genkel (Germany, United Kingdom)
• WHITE PLASTIC SKY, Tibor Bánóczki & Sarolta Szabó (Hungary, Slovakia) 

Now I'm sad I missed Robot Dreams at TIFF. The Amazing Maurice is the rare animated film that can count Sundance among its festival stops.

EUROPEAN SHORT FILM

• 27 directed, Flóra Anna Buda (France, Hungary)
• AQUERONTE, Manuel Muñoz Rivas (Spain)
• DAYDREAMING SO VIVIDLY ABOUT OUR SPANISH HOLIDAYS, Christian Avilés (Spain)
• FLORES DEL OTRO PATIO, Jorge Cadena (Switzerland, Colombia)
• HARDLY WORKING, Total Refusal: Susanna Flock, Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner & Michael Stumpf (Austria)

Though you might not be able to tell from the main category nominations, 2023 has been a remarkable year for Spanish cinema. It's nice to see it get recognition, even in these less-reported ballots. For the life of me, I can't understand what everyone sees in Hardly Working, a short film I've encountered at multiple festivals where it always seems to win something.

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY – PRIX FIPRESCI

• 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES, Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)
• HOW TO HAVE SEX, Molly Manning Walker (United Kingdom, Greece)
• LA PALISIADA, Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)
• SAFE PLACE, Juraj Lerotić (Croatia, Slovenia)
• THE QUIET MIGRATION, directed by Malene Choi (Denmark)
• VINCENT MUST DIE, directed by Stéphan Castang (France, Belgium)

This particular award is selected by a different group than the one that decides other categories. It's a committee formed by members from the European Film Academy and the International Federation of Film Critics, bent on celebrating directors for their first feature film. Safe Place was an Oscar submission last year, representing Croatia.

The EFA awards ceremony is scheduled for December 9th. All images are courtesy of the European Film Academy.

Comments

[Travis C]

Due to a bout of illness right n the middle of the Adelaide Film festival, I missed my booked screenings of APOLONIA, APOLONIA, AFIRE and 20 000 SPECIES OF BEES. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me in my quest to see major contenders this season.

[lemonzestysour1]

Does Nathaniel still work here? Whom are our sub fees going to?

[Charlie G]

I saw Anatomy of a Fall last night. And man, were those courtroom scenes too long! Sheesh. But Sandra Huller is just wonderful and is a deserving nominee. I realize the sensitivity around nominating kids, but Milo Machado Graner does some mighty fine work in Anatomy of a Fall. Maybe it's more of a "supporting" performance? But I hope he can get more recognition from US critics and viewers, despite the film's length. He's really the lynchpin to the whole thing working.