European Film Awards 2009: First Feature Nominees


At the 2009 Zurich Film Festival, the European Film Academy has announced this year’s nominations for the European Discovery Award for best first film. The nominees are:

Ajami by Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani

AJAMI, Germany / Israel

Winner of the Israeli Film Academy’s best picture award, Ajami is set in the mean streets of the occupied territories.

written & directed by Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani
produced by Mosh Danon, Thanassis Karathanos & Talia Kleinhendler

The Other Bank by George Ovashvili

GAGMA NAPIRI (The Other Bank), Georgia / Kazakhstan

After finding his mother with a lover, a pre-teen boy travels back home to Abkhazia in search of his father.

directed by George Ovashvili
written by Nugzar Shataidze
produced by George Ohashvili & Sain Gabdullin

Hilda Peter, Norbert Tanko in Katalin Varga

KATALIN VARGA, Romania / UK / Hungary

A woman and her son are on the run from the police (or from more sinister forces) in rural Romania.

Written & directed by Peter Strickland
produced by Tudor Giurgiu, Oana Giurgiu & Peter Strickland

Anais Demoustier in Be Good

SOIS SAGE (BE GOOD), France / Denmark

A young woman with a mysterious past assumes a new identity in the south of France. Problems arise when she becomes obsessed with a musician.

written & directed by Juliette Garcias
produced by Marianne Slot

Autumn by Ozcan Alper

SONBAHAR (Autumn), Turkey / Germany

In Autumn, a young ex-con returns to his village where he finds only loneliness and a sense of aimlessness — until a fateful meeting with a Georgian prostitute.

written & directed Özcan Alper
produced by F. Serkan Acar & Kadir Sözen

This year’s nominations were determined by a committee comprised of Board Members Pawel Pawlikowski (UK), Els Vandevorst (the Netherlands), and Pierre-Henri Deleau (France); in addition to Jacob Neiiendam (Denmark), director of the film festival CPH:PIX, as well as film journalists Dana Linssen (the Netherlands) and Alin Taciyan (Turkey), both of them members of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics).

The nominated films will now be made available to all 2,000 members of the European Film Academy. The winner will be announced at the 2009 European Film Awards on 12 December in Germany’s Ruhr Metropolis (that’s in Bochum, not far from Dortmund and Essen).


Next: CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA, THE GARDEN Screening « « | Previous: » » Petition for Roman Polanski Signatories

Share This on Facebook/Twitter:  

Text © 2004-2009 Alternative Film Guide and/or author(s). Not to be reproduced without prior written consent.

Comments

Leave a Reply

NOTE:

All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but courtesy is imperative. Rude/crass/bigoted comments and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.

Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.