If you’re searching for a proven precursor for the International Film Oscar race or even potential Best Picture nominees, look no further than the European Film Awards. Recent Best Film winners include Academy Award favorites such as “Triangle of Sadness,” “The Favourite,” “Cold War” and “Another Round.” This year, the European Film Academy, which determines the nominees and winners, has put the spotlight on three 2023 Cannes Film Festival breakouts: Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” from director Justine Triet.
Both “Zone” and “Fallen” lead all films with nominations in five categories including Best Film, European Director, European Screenwriter, European Actress, and European Actor. “Anatomy” took four nominations including Best Film, European Director, European Screenwriter, and European Actress. The remaining Best Film nominees include Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” and Matteo Garrone’s “Io Capitano,” both of which debuted at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival.
“Zone of Interest,” which is almost completely in German, was selected as Britain’s International Film submission while “Io Capitano” and “Fallen Leaves” were submitted by Italy and Finland respectively. All three films are expected to make the Oscar shortlist for International Film. “Green Border” and “Anatomy of a Fall” were controversially snubbed by both Poland and France, respectfully. Other potential International Film nominees that earned nominations include Tunisia’s “Four Daughters” (European Documentary), Germany’s “The Teacher’s Lounge” (European Actress), and Denmark’s “The Promised Land” (European Actor).
Notably, Sandra Hüller earned nominations for both “Anatomy” in “Zone” in the European Actress field, an accomplishment both NEON and A24 are hoping she pulls off in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress Oscar categories this January.
Here is a complete list of the 2023 nominations:
European Film
- ANATOMY OF A FALL (ANATOMIE D’UNE CHUTE)
Directed by Justine Triet
produced by Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion
(France) - FALLEN LEAVES (KUOLLEET LEHDET)
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Produced by Aki Kaurismäki, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff & Reinhard Brundig
(Finland, Germany) - GREEN BORDER (ZIELONA GRANICA)
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Produced by Marcin Wierzchosławski, Fred Bernstein & Agnieszka Holland
(Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium) - ME CAPTAIN (IO CAPITANO)
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)
European Documentary
- APOLONIA, APOLONIA
Directed by Lea Glob (Denmark, Poland) - FOUR DAUGHTERS (LES FILLES D’OLFA)
Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania (France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia) - MOTHERLAND
Directed by Hanna Badziaka & Alexander Mihalkovich (Sweden, Ukraine, Norway) - ON THE ADAMANT (SUR L’ADAMANT)
Directed by Nicolas Philibert (France, Japan) - SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD (SAVVUSANNA SÕSARAD)
Directed by Anna Hints (Estonia, France, Iceland)
European Director
- Justine Triet for ANATOMY OF A FALL
- Aki Kaurismäki for FALLEN LEAVES
- Agnieszka Holland for GREEN BORDER
- Matteo Garrone for ME CAPTAIN
- Jonathan Glazer for THE ZONE OF INTEREST
European Actress
- Sandra Hüller in ANATOMY OF A FALL
- Eka Chavleishvili in BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY
- Alma Pöysti in FALLEN LEAVES
- Mia McKenna-Bruce in HOW TO HAVE SEX
- Leonie Benesch in THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE
- Sandra Hüller in THE ZONE OF INTEREST
European Documentary
- APOLONIA, APOLONIA
Directed by Lea Glob (Denmark, Poland) - FOUR DAUGHTERS (LES FILLES D’OLFA)
Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania (France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia) - MOTHERLAND
Directed by Hanna Badziaka & Alexander Mihalkovich (Sweden, Ukraine, Norway) - ON THE ADAMANT (SUR L’ADAMANT)
Directed by Nicolas Philibert (France, Japan) - SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD (SAVVUSANNA SÕSARAD)
Directed by Anna Hints (Estonia, France, Iceland)
European Actor
- Thomas Schubert in AFIRE
- Jussi Vatanen in FALLEN LEAVES
- Josh O’Connor in LA CHIMERA
- Mads Mikkelsen in THE PROMISED LAND
- Christian Friedel in THE ZONE OF INTEREST
European Screenwriter
- Justine Triet & Arthur Harari for ANATOMY OF A FALL
- Aki Kaurismäki for FALLEN LEAVES
- Maciej Pisuk, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko & Agnieszka Holland for GREEN BORDER
- İlker Çatak & Johannes Duncker for THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE
- Jonathan Glazer for THE ZONE OF INTEREST
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI
- 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES (20.000 ESPECIES DE ABEJAS) directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)
- HOW TO HAVE SEX directed by Molly Manning Walker (United Kingdom, Greece)
- LA PALISIADA (ЛЯ ПАЛІСІАДА) directed by Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)
- SAFE PLACE (SIGURNO MJESTO) directed by Juraj Lerotić (Croatia, Slovenia)
- THE QUIET MIGRATION (STILLE LIV) directed by Malene Choi (Denmark)
- VINCENT MUST DIE (VINCENT DOIT MOURIR) directed by Stéphan Castang (France)
The 36th European Film Awards will be announced on December 9 in Berlin.
