EFA Nominations: 'Close', 'Holy Spider', and 'Triangle of Sadness' rule

by Nathaniel R

The 35th Annual European Film Awards have announced their nominations (drawn from the previous longlist announced in the summer). Two International Feature Film Oscar contenders Close (Belgium) and Holy Spider (Denmark) lead the nominations alongside Ruben Östlund's English-language satire Triangle of Sadness.  Each received four nominations. Full nominations list and commentary follows (NOW UPDATED WITH WINNERS MARKED BY STARS)...

EUROPEAN FILM

Alcarràs

• Alcarràs (Spain) 
• Close (Belgium) 
• Corsage (Austria) 
• Holy Spider (Denmark) 
• ★ Triangle of Sadness (Sweden)

Very disappointed to see Finland's wonderful Girl Picture snubbed entirely at the EFAs. We thought it had a chance. It's also interesting to note that Belfast and Parallel Mothers, both Oscar hits last season, didn't manage to place in the top category but did pick up one individual nomination each.

Aside from the five films in the Best European Film lineup no other film earned multiple nominations. The films that picked up single nominations today were: Aftersun (UK), Belfast (UK), EO (Poland), Godland (Iceland), Nostalgia (Italy), One Fine Morning (France), Parallel Mothers (Spain), Rabiye Kurnaz vs George Bush (Germany), and Saint Omer (France).

EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY

• The Balcony Movie (Poland)
  This festival crowd-pleaser, in which the director interviews people on the street from his balcony, was one of Poland's Oscar submission options this year; they opted for EO instead
• Girl Gang (Switzerland)
  A profile doc on a 14 year old influencer in Berlin
• A House Made of Splinters (Denmark/Ukraine)
  About a home for children who are awaiting custody decisions from the courts.
• ★ Mariupolis 2 (Lithuania)
  A posthumous honor. Compiled from footage from the Lithuanian director who traveled to the Ukraine to film people in 2015 and 2022 
• The March on Rome (Italy)
  A doc exploring the rise of Mussolini in 1922 and the contemporary legacy of fascism

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR

 Corsage

• Close, Lukas Dhont
• Corsage, Marie Kreutzer
• EO, Jerzy Skolimowski
• Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi (1 previous nomination in this category)
• Saint Omer, Alice Diop
• ★ Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund (1 previous nomination/win in this category)

Ruben Östlund previously triumphed in this category with The Square (2017) which was the big EFA winner in its year also taking Comedy, Film, and Screenwriter prizes. Abbasi was nominated for Border in its year.

EUROPEAN ACTRESS

Zar Amir Ebrahimi won Cannes for "Holy Spider". Can she also nab the European Film Award?

• Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers (5th nomination, 1 previous win)
• Meltem Kaptan, Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W Bush
• ★ Vicky Krieps, Corsage
• Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Holy Spider
• Léa Seydoux, One Fine Morning

Cruz won Venice last fall. Kaptan won Berlin in the winter. Then Ebrahimi took Cannes. Lots of awards history here from the past year here. Will it go to one of those three in an encore or will EFA move in their own new direction and crown Krieps or Seydoux? 

Cruz previously won this category for Volver (2006). In addition to her 5 Best European Actress nominations, she's been up for the EFA People's Choice Actress Award  (a separate now defunct prize) twice, winning for Don't Move (2004)

EUROPEAN ACTOR

Eden Dambrine in "Close"

• Paul Mescal, Aftersun
• Eden Dambrine, Close
• Elliott Crosset Hove, Godland
• Pierfrancesco Favino, Nostalgia (1 previous nomination)
• ★ Zlatko Burić, Triangle of Sadness

The heat might be with rising star Mescal, or even Eden Dambrine given how popular Close is. Dambrine is 15 years old so if he wins he'll become the youngest EFA Actor winner ever. The record is currently held by German star Daniel Brühl who won at age 25 for his international breakout performance in Good Bye Lenin! (2003). But really anyone could win this, don't you think? 

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER

Belfast 

• Alcarràs, Carla Simón & Arnau Vilaró
• Belfast, Kenneth Branagh
• Close, Lukas Dhont & Angelo Tijssens
• Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi & Afsin Kamran Bahrami
• ★ Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund

Branagh, of course, won the Oscar early this year for Belfast. He hasn't been up for an EFA award since Henry V (1989), for which he won two of EFAs (Young European Film of the Year... a category which became "European Discovery"... and European Actor of the Year) 

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY - PRIX FIPRESCI

107 Mothers 

• 107 Mothers, Peter Kerekes
• Love According to Dalva, Emmanuelle Nicot
• Other People, Aleksandra Terpińska
• Pamfir, Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
• ★ Small Body, Laura Samani
• Sonne, Kurdwin Ayub

Fun Trivia: Two of the big nominees this year previously competed in this category. Spanish director Carla Simon (Alcarràs) was nominated for this prize for Summer 1993 (2017). Lukas Dhont (Close), the 31 year-old Belgium filmmaker, won this category for his trans drama Girl (2018). So perhaps some of these directors will be back in years to come in the main categories? Very nice to see 107 Mothers here which you know we've been recommending for over a year now though sadly it never got US distribution. 

The European Film Awards move countries each year and this year they'll be held in Reykjavík, Iceland on December 10th. In addition to the categories above, the EFA has a very prolongued schedule of announcements with three categories and tributes already announced. There's another round yet to come, too, on November 23rd when an eight member jury will name winners in various craft categories. 

Previously announced categories...

COMEDY, ANIMATED FEATURE and SHORT FILM

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

• ★ Margarethe von Trotta (Germany) 

EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA AWARD 

• ★ Elia Suleiman (Palestine)

EUROPEAN INNOVATIVE STORYTELLING

• ★ Marco Bellocchio (Italy) for the miniseries Exterior Night

Comments

[Gallavich]

Favino won the Volpi Cup two years ago

[Score and Cinematography]

Man this is Paul Mescal’s second Best Actor nomination after Gotham. I think Indie Spirit will happen as well. I hope Academy acting members start holding support screenings for him and get him into the Oscar 5.

Nice to see Zlatko Burić in Triangle as well here.