Seville, 6 November
At the Seville European Film Festival, the European Film Academy and EFA Productions announced the nominations for the 23rd European Film Awards. Leading the field are THE GHOST WRITER, Roman Polanski’s political thriller with seven nominations, and LEBANON, Samuel Maoz's Israeli war drama, with five nominations.
Both movies garnered nominations for European Film, European Director for Polanski and Maoz and European Screenwriter (Richard Harris and Roman Polanski for THE GHOST WRITER and Samuel Maoz for LEBANON). Both films are also nominated for editing (Hervé de Luze for THE GHOST WRITER and Arik Lahav-Leibovich for LEBANON). While THE GHOST WRITER received additional nominations for actor Ewan McGregor, production designer Albrecht Konrad and composer Alexandre Desplat, LEBANON’s cinematographer Giora Bejach is nominated as well.
Semih Kaplanoğlu's Berlin Golden Bear-winner HONEY about a young boy in search for his father is up for three awards including European Film, Director (for Kaplanoğlu) and Cinematographer for Barış Özbiçer.
The remaining nominations for European Director went to Olivier Assayas for CARLOS (the French-German biopic of the infamous terrorist received an additional nomination for editors Luc Barnier and Marion Monnier) and to Italy’s Paolo Virzi for his family dramedy THE FIRST BEAUTIFUL THING.
THE GHOST WRITER (France/Germany/UK), LEBANON (Israel) and HONEY (Turkey) will be competing for the European Film 2009 prize alongside French monastery drama OF GODS AND MEN by Xavier Beauvois (also nominated for this film is cinematographer Caroline Champetier), Juan José Campanella’s romantic mystery THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (Spain/Argentinia) as well as SOUL KITCHEN (Germany), Fatih Akin’s delicious gastro comedy.
Further nominations went to actors Jakob Cedergren (Denmark) for his role as Nick in Thomas Vinterberg’s brother drama SUBMARINO, Italian Elio Germano (as construction worker Claudio in Daniele Luchetti’s social drama OUR LIFE), Romanian George Pistereanu (as 18-year-old Silviu released from a juvenile detention center in Florin Serban’s drama IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE) and Spaniard Luis Tosar (as inmate Malamadre leading a rebellion in Daniel Monzón’s prison drama CELL 211). The latter film also received a screenplay nomination for Jorge Guerricaechevarría & Daniel Monzón.
Nominated actresses include Zrinka Cvitešić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) as Luna in Jasmila Zbanic’s relationship drama ON THE PATH, Sibel Kekilli (Germany) as a young Turkish mother fleeing from her violent husband in Feo Adalag’s German Oscar candidate WHEN WE LEAVE, Lesley Manville (UK) as unhappy single fifty-something Mary in Mike Leigh’s social dramedy ANOTHER YEAR (the film received a second nomination for composer Gary Yershon), Sylvie Testud (France) as a wheelchair-bound Christine in Jessica Hausner’s pilgrimage dramedy LOURDES and Lotte Verbeek (the Netherlands) as young rebellious Anne in Urszula Antoniak’s relationship drama NOTHING PERSONAL.
Nominated for the new production design award are Paola Bizzarri and Luis Ramirez for the Italian costume drama I, DON GIOVANNI and Markku Pätilä and Jaagup Roomet for the Estonian tragedy THE TEMPATION OF ST. TONY about a manager in his midlife crisis. And two additional nominations for best composer went to Pasquale Catalano for the Italian family farce LOOSE CANNONS and Ales Brezina for the Czech political drama KAWASAKI’S ROSE.
One nomination each received the French music drama THE CONCERT for screenwriter Radu Mihaileanu and Aleksei Propogebsky’s drama HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER about two men in a Russian polar station for cinematographer Pavel Kostomarov.
The 2,300 EFA Members will now vote for the winners which will be presented during the Awards Ceremony on 4 December in Tallinn/Estonia.
See all the nominations here
