The European Film Awards Longlist

by Nathaniel R

This year's European Film Awards ceremony (which moves locales each season) will take place in Rekyjavik, Iceland on December 10th. Though nominations won't be announced until November 8th, we now know 30 of the titles that are being considered for those nominations (another dozen are usually added to the list before voting though). On the following list you'll see a couple of 2021 Oscar titles but that's because the EFA's calendar runs summer to summer and is less concerned with release dates than with world premieres (which is smart given that so many different countries are involved); films which had their first official screenings between June 1st, 2021 and May 31st, 2022 qualify. The EFA Awards are always interesting because they are fairly unpredictable and have no concerns with being an Oscar bellwether though some of the titles vying for prizes each year end up as Oscar submissions from their respective countries.

The list is after the jump (links go to reviews or coverage if we've done any)...

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Berlinale Prize Winners: Claire Denis, Carla Simón, and Isabelle Huppert

by Nathaniel R

The annual Berlinale proved to be yet another excellent film festival for female filmmakers. France's legendary auteur Claire Denis (Beau Travail, White Material, 35 Shots of Run) took Best Director for her latest Both Sides of the Blade (pictured above) which stars two incredible French titans of acting, Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche. This is Denis' very first prize at one of the Big Three European festivals if you can believe it. The top prize of the festival, the Golden Bear, went to rising Catalan filmmaker Carla Simón (Summer 1993) for her ensemble drama Alcaras about a family who may lose their farm.  

Complete list of winners after the jump and we do expect at least a couple of them to pop up in next year's International Feature Film Oscar race since the buzz often starts at Berlin for some entries to that category...

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