EFA Winners: "Another Round" Sweeps

by Nathaniel R

The European Film Awards were held yesterday, mostly virtually, with Denmark's Another Round winning all four of its nominations (Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay). Mads Mikkelsen headlines as a depressed high school teacher who decides to experiment with binge-drinking with three of his closest teacher friends. The funny sad beautifully executed film has a star turn at its center that we hope Oscar will consider in the crowded Best Actor race. We already presumed it a major threat at the Oscars for Best International Feature Film and this should all but erase any doubts that it will be nominated. It will be available to rent online starting December 18th in the US. At the EFA site you can see all the acceptance speeches. Here's the complete list of winners for the 33rd Annual European Film Awards and a couple of more comments...

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EFA Nominees: Denmark's "Another Round" Leads the Pack

by Nathaniel R

Apologies that in this week where we've been doing such a fine job covering international cinema news what will all the Oscar submission daily stuff, that we missed the EFA nominations. "OOPS-HOWD-THAT- HAPPEN?" in all caps. The nominees and commentary are after the jump. If we've written about the film there are links...

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Chi Film Fest: "Undine"

Coverage from the 56th annual Chicago Film Festival

by Nick Taylor

Undine opens immediately after the titular character (Paula Beer) has been told by her boyfriend Johannes (Jacob Matschenz) that he’s leaving her for another woman. Seated at an outdoor café, Beer’s expression remains piquant and internalized as Johannes explains himself, half listening to him talk and half deciding how to respond. When she makes up her mind, she informs Johannes they’re still in love, and if he’s not at the café when she gets back from work in half an hour she’ll kill him. He’s not there, obviously. But after hearing an unexpected figure call out her name, she meets a man named Christoph (Franz Rogowski). The two are instantly captivated by each other, and their meet-cute is so strange, heartfelt, and semi-chaotic I’d hate to spoil it. It might be the best scene in the film...

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