European Film Awards long list, Part 1

by Nathaniel R

Celine Sciamma's "Petite Maman" could be up for EFAs this year

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...

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Directors should get the Best International Film Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

While many aspects of the Oscar ceremony annoyed, quite a lot of elements worked to significant effect. Chief among them, the fact winners were allowed to deliver their speeches with no apparent time limit. I don't know about you, but I love long acceptance speeches, especially those that take me on a journey. On the comedic side, we have Daniel Kaluuya, who topped his inspiring sentiment with euphoric comments about his parents having sex. The miracle of life indeed. In contrast, Thomas Vinterberg delivered a gut punch when he spoke about his daughter's tragic death upon accepting the Best International Film statuette for Another Round. It was a great, heartbreaking moment, illuminating the pain that can exist behind fantastic art. 

Considering all that, it's a pity that the Oscar itself doesn't belong to Vinterberg, nor will it be credited as his victory. As it happens, this is the only category where the winner isn't a person…

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Best International Feature: The Man Who Sold His Skin

by Cláudio Alves

For the past few months, I've been trying to watch as many Best International Feature submissions as I possibly can. For The Film Experience, I reviewed 33 of those titles, including nine of the 15 shortlisted films, with most of the remaining finalists being taken care of by other writers. Still, one feature remained unreviewed on Oscar nomination morning, and, as luck would have it, that very same production nabbed a somewhat surprising nod. I wish I could say I was happy about The Man Who Sold His Skin's triumph, but Tunisia's seventh ever submission and first nominee proved to be a disappointment…

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1983 Flashback: The Best International feature race

by Cláudio Alves

Have you ever seen a film so good it makes you happy to be alive? For me, Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander is one of those films. 

After I guested on the 2001 episode of The One-Inch Barrier, a podcast about the Best International Film category, the amazing Juan Carlos Ojano asked me to choose another year to do and I immediately knew I wanted to talk to him about 1983. Since last summer, I'm happy to say Juan Carlos and I have become friends, and there are few things I like to do more than sharing the movies I love with the people I love and there are few things I love more than Fanny & Alexander. I'd be even more joyful if you, lovely readers, could share in this lovefest for cinema. Join us as we travel back to the early 80s and talk about Bergman's legacy, World War II movies, the magic of dance on the big screen, and much more. Take a listen:

What do you think of this Oscar lineup? Are you as in love with Fanny & Alexander as I am or do you have another favorite from '83?

366 films eligible for Best Picture at the 93rd Oscars

It's here. The annual "reminder list" from the Oscars about what Academy members can vote for this year for Best Picture (and other categories). Of course this list does not apply to all categories as some movies have already been eliminated in the specialized categories that use bakeoffs or finalists systems or that have extra additional eligibility requirements like...

• Animated Feature (27 finalists)
• Documentary Feature (15 finalists)
• International Feature (15 finalists)
• Makeup and Hairstyling (10 finalists)
• Original Score (15 finalists)
• Original Song (15 finalists)
• Visual Effects (10 finalists)
• ...and all three Short Film categories (but feature films aren't eligible there anyway)

But if the movie is on this overall reminder list it's still eligible in any other category. A lot more notes after the jump...

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