European Film Awards: Festival Darlings score big in the Craft Categories
Friday, December 1, 2023 at 1:00PM 
Last month, the European Film Academy announced their nominations in the above-the-line categories, with The Zone of Interest and Fallen Leaves in the lead. Now, it was a time for the winners of their craft prizes, also known as the Excellence Awards. These honors are decided by a jury of eight from a pool of selected titles, and this year, there was some double-dipping afoot. Both The Promised Land and Society of the Snow scored two prizes, while the remaining awards were divided among pictures that premiered in competition at Cannes – Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, La Chimera, and Club Zero…
The committee that decided these picks was composed of European film professionals. They were Italian cinematographer Matteo Cocco (Hidden Away, Dark Glasses), British editor Mdhamir Á Nkemi (Blue Story, The Last Tree), Ukrainian production designer Maria Shub (Now I'm Gonna Love You, Little Wings), Bulgarian costume designer Armaveni Stoyanova (The Color of the Chameleon, Automata), Lithuanian make-up artist Eglė Mikalauskaitė (Defiance, Vesper), Swiss sound designer Gina Keller (My Little Sister, The Novice), Georgian composer Zviad Mgebry (And Then We Danced, Klondike), and Swedish VFX supervisor Mårten Larsson (Avengers: Endgame, Eternals).
And since the jury was kind enough to share their defense of each choice, they'll be included here with no further commentary. However, I'm side-eying that explanation for the Costume win.
EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Rasmus Videbæk, THE PROMISED LAND
The poetic cinematography of The Promised Land illustrates perfectly that Rasmus Videbæk knows exactly where to push forward and where to stand back. Visually powerful, he doesn't draw too much attention to the camera, leaving story and characters the room they deserve, be it working on the harsh Danish heath or inside the lodgings of the workers around Captain Ludvig Kahlen and the impressive mansion of the local sovereign.
EUROPEAN EDITING
Laurent Sénéchal, ANATOMY OF A FALL
As this psychological drama slowly unfolds, Laurent Sénéchal's editing is a main part of the story's architecture. What is withheld and what is revealed at what time keeps surprising the viewer, adds to our impression of the characters and gives the story its pace. New bits of information keep changing what we thought we knew.
EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGN
Emita Frigato, LA CHIMERA
Matching completely different styles, Emita Frigato's production design creates the spaces in which this fairy tale can really unfold. In a perfect balance, precise historical knowledge of both ancient Italian art and of this part of Italy in the 80s is joyfully mixed with a kind of magic realism. All rooms and spaces contain a reality that is supported by textures, trinkets and kitchen utensils, never taking over the story but enhancing what happens and the characters who're in it.
EUROPEAN COSTUME DESIGN
Kicki Ilander, THE PROMISED LAND
We see delicate and smart work which helps to build true characters full of emotions. The costume designer leads us through the story quietly, not rushing, knowing the right amount of what we need to see, and when. The defined development of the characters is almost imperceptible – up to the climactic scene when the perfect spot of blood sets the last tone. There is nothing to add and nothing to take off, it's just perfect.
EUROPEAN MAKE-UP & HAIR
Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé, SOCIETY OF THE SNOW
The enviable achievement in make-up and hair for Society of the Snow combines great care for continuity and a profound knowledge of the time. With great accuracy, we witness how hair and beards grow and how skin changes over time in a life-threatening environment. On top of that, a lot of care was put into making actors resemble the real people in this terrifying real-life drama.
EUROPEAN ORIGINAL SCORE
Markus Binder, CLUB ZERO
The original score of Club Zero is an essential and seamlessly integrated part of the film. The score effectively conveys the character of the teacher, magnetically pulling viewers into the narrative. It carries a ritual significance, creating a deep emotional connection as the music gradually unfolds and reveals its purpose. What sets this score apart is its originality. It intentionally strays from being overly refined and polished, creating a raw and distinctive timbre sound that represents the students' perspective on a distorted reality.
EUROPEAN SOUND
Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers, THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Taking on a main role in The Zone of Interest, the sound is the only hint to the horrors that happen on the other side of the wall of a beautiful family garden. What we do not see, we hear. There is an exceptional amount of detail, creating a space with sounds that feels natural, at the same time keeping you alarmed.
EUROPEAN VISUAL EFFECTS
Félix Bergés and Laura Pedro, SOCIETY OF THE SNOW
In this real-life drama of a plane crash in the Andean mountains, we never question what we see. Excellent visual effects and well-done compositing makes everything look like it was filmed on location and happened on camera. Throughout the film this illusion is never broken.
The European Film Awards ceremony is on December 9th. Who are you rooting for?
Reader Comments (6)
God I want to see The Zone of Interest so bad. Just finished the novel.
charlea -- Be warned that the film is a VERY loose adaptation of Amis' novel. It's only got the barest of narratives, and the book's characters are virtually non-existent within the picture.
People expecting the novel on screen run the risk of high disappointment. Still, I think it's a great, disquieting piece of cinema. And the sound work is genius indeed.
Claudio - That’s pretty much what I expected. Glazer did the same thing with the Under the Skin novel when he made the film.
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