‘Nymphomaniac’ Among 50 Films Vying for European Film Awards

The drumbeat of wins builds momentum for any film, from Cannes and the fall festivals to each country’s submission for the Oscars–which are often influenced by perceived strength from outside critics and juries. The European Film Awards move from capital to capital–this year the 27th European Film Academy awards will be presented on December 13 in Riga, Latvia, where the EFA announced that 50 films representing 31 countries are eligible for 2014 nominations.

Twenty countries with the most EFA Members have voted one national film directly into the selection list. Then a selection committee of EFA Board Members and invited experts –Mark Adams (UK), Marit Kapla (Sweden), Stefan Kitanov (Bulgaria), Paz Lázaro (Spain), Christophe Leparc (France) and Elma Tataragic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) filled out the list of eligible films.

Then more than 3,000 members of the European Film Academy will vote for nominations in the following categories: European Film, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenwriter. They will announce on November 8 at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain, at which point a seven-member jury will decide on the awards recipients in the categories European Cinematographer, Editor, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Composer and Sound Designer.

Early frontrunners among the fifty fIlms below include “Calvary,”  “Force Majeure,” “Ida,” “Leviathan,” “Locke,” “Mr. Turner,” “Two Days, One Night,” and Palme d’Or-winner “WInter Sleep.” And I’m delighted that Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” 1 and 2–likely to wind up on my ten best list–made the cut.