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EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2021

Titane, Quo Vadis, Aida? and The Father lead the nominations for the European Film Awards

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- The films by Julia Ducournau, Jasmila Žbanić and Florian Zeller receive four nods, while Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6 follow hot on their heels with three

Titane, Quo Vadis, Aida? and The Father lead the nominations for the European Film Awards
Titane by Julia Ducournau

Family matters feature heavily at this year’s European Film Awards, which will take place in Berlin on 11 December and will be a traditional, on-site ceremony, as opposed to last year’s one-off edition. As announced this morning during a conference at the 18th Seville European Film Festival, the nominations for the 34th edition of the awards are spearheaded by three films centring on the unbreakable family ties that keep us together.

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Last year’s sensations The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Zeller
film profile
]
, Florian Zeller’s portrait of an elderly man struggling with dementia and his selfless daughter, and Quo Vadis, Aida? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile
]
, Jasmila Žbanić’s take on the horror of Srebrenica through the eyes of a UN translator who tries to save her family, as well as this year’s glistening Palme d’Or winner Titane [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julia Ducournau, Vincent Li…
film profile
]
, Julia Ducournau’s attempt to explode every family convention we are used to, received no fewer than four nominations apiece. All three of them are vying for the award in the European Film and the European Director categories, with additional appearances in the acting categories (Anthony Hopkins for The Father, Jasna Đuričić for Quo Vadis, Aida?, and both Agathe Rouselle and Vincent Lindon for Titane) and European Screenwriter (Jasmila Žbanić, and the writing duo formed by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton).

Due to the European Film Awards’ selection rules, not every film world-premiered this year was eligible for this edition (check out the selection of films here and here), but some of the most prominent movies from this year’s crop have stood out in particular. Such is the case for Paolo Sorrentino’s Netflix-produced Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Hand of God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile
]
, which is nominated in the Film, Director and Screenwriter categories, alongside Juho Kuosmanen’s Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile
]
, which bagged a nomination for its two leads (Seidi Haarla and Yuriy Borisov) and a surprise one in the Film category.

Two other hits from this year’s festival circuit have managed to secure two nominations each: Radu Jude’s Golden Bear winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile
]
(Director and Screenwriter) and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile
]
(Screenwriter, for the work of the director alongside regular co-writer Eskil Vogt, and Actress, for the endeavours of lead Renate Reinsve, already awarded Best Actress at Cannes).

There are several feats to celebrate in the other categories, such as the double nomination for Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Cannes-labelled Sundance winner Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile
]
, in the categories of Animated Film and Documentary. In the latter section, acclaimed filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa shows up with his latest work, Babi Yar. Context [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile
]
, alongside Maria Speth’s Berlinale Special Jury Prize winner Mr Bachmann and His Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

Lastly, some love was shown for festival favourites Franz Rogowski, nominated for European Actor for his turn in Great Freedom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Meise
film profile
]
, and Ari Folman, nominated for European Animated Film for his last effort Where Is Anne Frank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ari Folman
film profile
]
, as well as some of the names who already shone brightly during last year’s awards season (Carey Mulligan for Promising Young Woman [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Tahar Rahim for The Mauritanian [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s Wolfwalkers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
).

Here is the complete list of nominees:

European Film
Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile
]
– Juho Kuosmanen (Finland/Russia/Estonia/Germany)
Quo Vadis, Aida? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile
]
– Jasmila Žbanić (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Austria/Romania/France/ Netherlands/Germany/Poland/Norway/Turkey)
The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Zeller
film profile
]
– Florian Zeller (UK/France)
The Hand of God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile
]
– Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
Titane [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julia Ducournau, Vincent Li…
film profile
]
– Julia Ducournau (France)

European Documentary
Babi Yar. Context [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile
]
– Sergei Loznitsa (Netherlands/Ukraine)
Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile
]
– Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark/France/Norway/Sweden)
Mr Bachmann and His Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Maria Speth (Germany)
Taming the Garden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Salomé Jashi
film profile
]
– Salomé Jashi (Switzerland/Germany/Georgia)
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Lindström and Kris…
film profile
]
- Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri (Sweden)

European Animated Film
Even Mice Belong in Heaven [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Jan Bubeníček, Denisa Grimmová (Czech Republic/France/Slovakia/Poland)
Flee – Jonas Poher Rasmussen
The Ape Star [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Linda Hambäck (Sweden/Norway/Denmark)
Where Is Anne Frank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ari Folman
film profile
]
– Ari Folman (Belgium/Luxembourg/France/Netherlands/Israel)
Wolfwalkers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart (Ireland/Luxembourg/France)

European Comedy
Ninjababy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristine Kujath Thorp
interview: Yngvild Sve Flikke
film profile
]
– Yngvild Sve Flikke (Norway)
The Morning After [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Méliane Marcaggi (France)
The People Upstairs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cesc Gay
film profile
]
– Cesc Gay (Spain)

European Director
Julia Ducournau - Titane
Radu Jude - Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile
]
(Romania/Croatia/Czech Republic/Luxembourg)
Paolo Sorrentino - The Hand of God
Jasmila Žbanić - Quo Vadis, Aida?
Florian Zeller - The Father

European Actress
Jasna Đuričić - Quo Vadis, Aida?
Seidi Haarla - Compartment No. 6
Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(US/UK)
Renate Reinsve - The Worst Person in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile
]
(Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark)
Agathe Rousselle - Titane

European Actor
Yuriy Borisov - Compartment No. 6
Anthony Hopkins - The Father
Vincent Lindon - Titane
Tahar Rahim - The Mauritanian [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(UK/US)
Franz Rogowski - Great Freedom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Meise
film profile
]
(Austria/Germany)

European Screenwriter
Radu Jude - Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Paolo Sorrentino - The Hand of God
Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt - The Worst Person in the World
Jasmila Žbanić - Quo Vadis, Aida?
Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton - The Father

Categories already announced:

European Short Film (read news)
Bella - Thelyia Petraki (Greece)
Displaced - Samir Karahoda (Kosovo)
Easter Eggs - Nicolas Keppens (Belgium/France/Netherlands)
In Flow of Words - Eliane Esther Bots (Netherlands)
My Uncle Tudor - Olga Lucovnicova (Belgium/Portugal/Hungary/Moldova)

European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI (read news)
Beginning [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile
]
- Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia/France)
Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valdimar Jóhannsson
film profile
]
- Valdimar Jóhansson (Iceland/Sweden/Poland)
Playground [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Wandel
film profile
]
- Laura Wandel (Belgium)
Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile
]
- Ninja Thyberg (Sweden/Netherlands/France)
Promising Young Woman [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Emerald Fennell (USA/UK)
The Whaler Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philipp Yuryev
film profile
]
- Philipp Yuryev (Russia/Poland/Belgium)

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