by Nathaniel R
The European Film Awards (EFA) don't yet have the same cache as BAFTA or the Oscars. They have a more difficult hurdle to climb to form a recognizable identity. It's much easier to asses just one country's cinema (primarily) as BAFTA and AMPAS do, then determine "bests" from a vast swath of different cultures, different cinema trends, different languages, and so on. Nevertheless, we think EFA deserves more attention than they get. Last season's big winner Denmark's Another Round was also a hit at the Oscars.
They've recently announced the first of two longlists for the 2021 season from which their 4000 or so members will vote on to choose nominees later in the year. The list follows after the jump...
You'll notice that quite a few of these were submissions for the International Feature Film Oscar last season and the list contains two recent partially British productions that were Oscar-loved. The EFA has different timetables so they're regularly a mix of two separate Oscar/BAFTA years. We assume that the second part of their list will bring a crop of newer films that are only now emerging at festivals and in their home countries.
THE LIST
200 Meters (Jordan's Oscar submission last season)
Ammonite (UK)
And Tomorrow the Entire World (Germany's Oscar submission last season)
Apples (Greece's Oscar submission last season)
Assandira (Italy)
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Romania)
Beginning (Georgia's Oscar submission last season)
Brother's Keeper (Turkey)
Conference (Russia)
Dear Comrades! (Russia's Oscar finalist last season)
Fabian- Going to the Dogs (Germany)
Forest - I See You Everywhere (Hungary)
Gaza Mon Amour (Palestine's Oscar submission last season)
Hammamet (Italy)
Here We Are (Israel)
Hive (Albania)
I'm Your Man (Germany)
Luzzu (Malta)
Natural Light (Hungary)
Never Gonna Snow Again (Poland's Oscar submission last season - now in US theaters)
Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast's Oscar finalist last season)
Nowhere Special (Italy)
Oasis (Serbia)
Petite Maman (France)
Pleasure (Sweden)
Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Hungary's Oscar submission last season)
Promising Young Woman (UK - Best Picture nominee last season)
Quo Vadis Aida? (Bosnia-Herzegovina's Oscar nominee last season)
Riders of Justice (Denmark)
Supernova (UK)
The Belly of the Sea (Spain)
The Dig (UK)
The Fam (Switzerland)
The Father (UK - Best Picture nominee last season)
The Girl and the Spider (Switzerland)
The Macaluso Sisters (Italy - was eligible for Oscar submission last year but they chose a different film)
The Mauritanian (UK)
The Whaler Boy (Russia)
Tove (Finland's Oscar submission last season)
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (Georgia)