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.
ALIENATION
ОТЧУЖДЕНИЕ (OTCHUJDENIE)
Bulgaria
DIRECTED BY:Milko Lazarov
WRITTEN BY: Milko Lazarov, Kitodar Todorov & Georgi Tenev
PRODUCED BY: Veselka Kiryakova
AMOUR FOU
Austria/Luxembourg/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY:Jessica Hausner
PRODUCED BY: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu & Philippe Bober
BEAUTIFUL YOUTH
HERMOSA JUVENTUD
Spain/France
DIRECTED BY:Jaime Rosales
WRITTEN BY: Jaime Rosales & Enric Rufas
PRODUCED BY: Jaime Rosales, José María Morales, Jérôme Dopffer & Barbara Diez
BIRD PEOPLE
France
DIRECTED BY:Pascale Ferran
WRITTEN BY: Pascale Ferran & Guillaume Bréaud
PRODUCED BY: Denis Freyd
BLIND
Norway
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY:Eskil Vogt
PRODUCED BY: Hans-Jørgen Osnes & Sigve Endresen
BLIND DATES
SHEMTKHVEVITI PAEMNEBI
Georgia
DIRECTED BY:Levan Koguashvili
WRITTEN BY: Boris Frumin & Levan Koguashvili
PRODUCED BY: Suliko Tsulukidze
CALVARY
Ireland/UK
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: John Michael McDonagh
PRODUCED BY: Chris Clark & Flora Fernandez Marengo
CANNIBAL
CANÍBAL
Spain/Romania/Russia/France
DIRECTED BY:Manuel Martín Cuenca
WRITTEN BY: Alejandro Hernández & Manuel Martín Cuenca
PRODUCED BY: Manuel Martín Cuenca, Fernando Bovaira & Simón De Santiago
CLASS ENEMY
RAZREDNI SOVRAŽNIK
Slovenia
DIRECTED BY:Rok Biček
WRITTEN BY: Nejc Gazvoda, Rok Biček & Janez Lapajne
PRODUCED BY: Aiken Veronika Prosenc & Janez Lapajne
CONCRETE NIGHT
BETONIYÖ
Finland/Sweden/Denmark
DIRECTED BY:Pirjo Honkasalo
WRITTEN BY: Pirkko Saisio & Pirjo Honkasalo
PRODUCED BY: Mark Lwoff & Misha Jaari
DREAMLAND
TRAUMLAND
Switzerland/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY:Petra Volpe
PRODUCED BY: Lukas Hobi & Reto Schaerli
FAIR PLAY
Czech Republic/Slovakia/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Andrea Sedlackova
PRODUCED BY: Pavel Strnad, Thommy Kral & Silvia Panakova
FORCE MAJEURE
TURIST
Sweden/Denmark/France/Norway
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Ruben Östlund
PRODUCED BY: Erik Hemmendorff, Marie Kjellson & Philippe Bober
FRANK
UK/Ireland
DIRECTED BY: Lenny Abrahamson
WRITTEN BY: Jon Ronson & Peter Straughan
PRODUCED BY: Ed Guiney, David Barron & Stevie Lee
GIRLHOOD
BANDE DE FILLES
France
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Céline Sciamma
PRODUCED BY: Bénédicte Couvreur
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
ADIEU AU LANGAGE
France
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY:Jean-Luc Godard
PRODUCED BY: Brahim Chioua
HOME FROM HOME – CHRONICLE OF A VISION
DIE ANDERE HEIMAT – CHRONIK EINER SEHNSUCHT
Germany/France
DIRECTED BY: Edgar Reitz
WRITTEN BY: Edgar Reitz & Gert Heidenreich
PRODUCED BY: Christian Reitz
HUMAN CAPITAL
IL CAPITALE UMANO
Italy
DIRECTED BY: Paolo Virzì
WRITTEN BY: Francesco Piccolo, Francesco Bruni & Paolo Virzì
PRODUCED BY: Fabrizio Donvito, Marco Cohen, Benedetto Habib, Philippe Gompel & Birgit Kemner
IDA
Poland/Denmark
DIRECTED BY: Pawel Pawlikowski
WRITTEN BY: Paweł Pawlikowski & Rebecca Lenkiewicz
PRODUCED BY: Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzięcioł, Ewa Puszczyńska & Christian Husum
IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE
KRAFTIDIOTEN
Norway
DIRECTED BY: Hans Petter Moland
WRITTEN BY: Kim Fupz Aakeson
PRODUCED BY: Finn Gjerdrum & Stein B. Kvae
KERTU. LOVE IS BLIND
KERTU
Estonia
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Ilmar Raag
PRODUCED BY: Riina Sildos
LEVIATHAN
LEVIAFAN
Russia
DIRECTED BY: Andrey Zvyagintsev
WRITTEN BY: Oleg Negin & Andrey Zvyagintsev
PRODUCED BY: Alexander Rodnyansky & Sergey Melkumov
LIFE IN A FISHBOWL
VONARSTRÆTI
Iceland/Sweden/Finland/Czech Republic
DIRECTED BY: Baldvin Zophoníasson
WRITTEN BY: Baldvin Zophoníasson, Birgir Steinarsson
PRODUCED BY: Julius Kemp, Ingvar Thordarson, Per Janérus, Markus Selin, Jukka Helle, Karla Stojakova
LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSED
VIVIR ES FÁCIL CON LOS OJOS CERRADOS
Spain
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY:David Trueba
PRODUCED BY: Cristina Huete
LOCKE
UK
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Steven Knight
PRODUCED BY: Guy Heeley & Paul Webster
MACONDO
Austria
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Sudabeh Mortezai
MISS VIOLENCE
Greece
DIRECTED BY: Alexandros Avranas
WRITTEN BY: Alexandros Avranas & Kostas Peroulis
PRODUCED BY: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos & Alexandros Avranas
MR. TURNER
UK/France/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Mike Leigh
PRODUCED BY: Georgina Lowe
NYMPHOMANIAC DIRECTOR’S CUT – VOLUME I & 2
Denmark/Germany/France/Belgium
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Lars von Trier
PRODUCED BY: Louise Vesth
OF HORSES AND MEN
HROSS Í OSS
Iceland/Norway/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Benedikt Erlingson
PRODUCED BY: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
PAPUSZA
Poland
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Joanna Kos-Krauze & Krzysztof Krauze
PRODUCED BY: Lambros Ziotas
STARRED UP
UK
DIRECTED BY: David Mackenzie
WRITTEN BY: Jonathan Asser
PRODUCED BY: Gillian Berrie
STILL LIFE
UK/Italy
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Uberto Pasolini
PRODUCED BY: Uberto Pasolini, Felix Vossen & Christopher Simon
STRATOS
TO MIKRO PSARI
Greece/Germany/Cyprus
DIRECTED BY: Yannis Economides
WRITTEN BY: Yannis Economides, Thanos Xiros, Vangelis Mourikis, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos & Harry Lagoussis
PRODUCED BY: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos
THAT LOVELY GIRL
HARCHEK ME HEADRO
Israel
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Keren Yedaya
PRODUCED BY: Marek Rozenbaum, Michael Eckelt, Emmanuel Agneray & Jerome Bleitrach
THE DARK VALLEY
DAS FINSTERE TAL
Austria/Germany
DIRECTED BY: Andreas Prochaska
WRITTEN BY: Martin Ambrosch
PRODUCED BY: Helmut Grasser & Stefan Arndt
THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER
HAGANENET
Israel/France
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Nadav Lapid
PRODUCED BY: Osnat Keren-Handelsman, Talia Kleinhendler & Carole Scotta
THE LAMB
KUZU
Turkey/Germany
WRITTEN, DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY: Kutlug Ataman
THE TRIBE
PLEMYA
Ukraine
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
PRODUCED BY: Valentyn Vasyanovych & Iya Myslytska
THE WONDERS
LE MERAVIGLIE
Italy/Germany/Switzerland
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Alice Rohrwacher
PRODUCED BY: Carlo Cresto-Dina, Karl Baumgartner, Tiziana Soudani & Michael Weber
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT
Belgium
WRITTEN, DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
UNDER THE SKIN
UK
DIRECTED BY: Jonathan Glazer
WRITTEN BY: Walter Campbell & Jonathan Glazer
PRODUCED BY: Nick Wechsler & James Wilson
VIOLETTE
France/Belgium
DIRECTED BY: Martin Provost
WRITTEN BY: Martin Provost, Marc Abdelnour & René de Ceccatty
PRODUCED BY: Miléna Poylo & Gilles Sacuto
WALESA
Poland
DIRECTED BY: Andrzej Wajda
WRITTEN BY: Janusz Głowacki
PRODUCED BY: Michał Kwieciński
WE ARE THE BEST!
VI ÄR BÄST!
Sweden/Denmark
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Lukas Moodysson
PRODUCED BY: Lars Jönsson
WHEN EVENING FALLS ON BUCHAREST OR METABOLISM
CÂND SE LASA SEARA PESTE BUCURESTI SAU METABOLISM
Romania/France
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Corneliu Porumboiu
PRODUCED BY: Marcela Ursu
WHITE GOD
FEHÉR ISTEN
Hungary/Germany/Sweden
DIRECTED BY: Kornél Mundruczó
WRITTEN BY: Kata Wéber, Kornél Mundruczó & Viktória Petrányi
PRODUCED BY: Viktória Petrányi
WINTER SLEEP
KIŞ UYKUSU
Turkey/France/Germany
DIRECTED BY: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
WRITTEN BY: Ebru Ceylan & Nuri Bilge Ceylan
PRODUCED BY: Zeynep Özbatur Atakan
WOLF
Netherlands
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Jim Taihuttu
PRODUCED BY: Julius Ponten
WOUNDED
LA HERIDA
Spain
DIRECTED BY: Fernando Franco
WRITTEN BY: Fernando Franco & Enric Rufas
PRODUCED BY: Koldo Zuazua
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