European Film Academy Ambassadors

Maria de Medeiros (top); Belén Rueda (middle); Kim Rossi Stuart (bottom)

The European Film Academy (EFA) has enlisted a group of Ambassadors of European Film to cooperate in the promotion of European cinema and the European Film Awards.
From the European Film Academy’s press release, the EFA Ambassadors are:

Moritz Bleibtreu, actor, Germany
One of the best-known German faces in international cinema, Moritz Bleibtreu first shot to international attention as Manni in Tom Tykwer’s RUN LOLA RUN (1998). He was nominated in 2001 for the EFA People’s Choice Award for THE EXPERIMENT by Oliver Hirschbiegel and is now nominated for European Actor for his role as Andreas Baader in THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX by Uli Edel.
Stephen Daldry, director, UK
[...]

European Film Awards 2009: Rules & Relevance

Maria Heiskanen in Everlasting Moments

European Film Awards 2009 – Nominations: Part I
Among the eligible films and performers that failed to nab a mention were Giovanna Mezzogiorno for Vincere, Audrey Tautou for Coco Before Chanel, Maren Ade’s Everyone Else, Ulrich Tukur for The White Ribbon, Martina Gedeck for The Baader Meinhof Complex, and Michael Fassbender for Fish Tank.
Also, Christian Petzold’s Jerichow, Nina Hoss for Jerichow, Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments, Maria Heiskanen for Everlasting Moments, Corneliu Porumboiu’s Police, Adjective, Andrzej Wajda’s Sweet Rush, and Philippe Lioret’s Welcome.
Now, the curious thing about the European Film Awards is that the awards’ timing and eligibility rules (some of which have varied throughout the years) make many of the nominations seem like old news. Indeed, [...]

European Film Awards 2009: Prix Eurimages

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s Daratt (top); Kevin Bishop, Siobhan Hewlett, Marianne Faithfull in Irina Palm (middle); Nadja Uhl, Thekla Reuten in Twin Sisters (bottom)

The European Film Academy has announced that the winners of the 2009 Prix Eurimages, an award "acknowledging the decisive role of co-productions in the European film industry," will go to two producers "who have combined their efforts to develop and promote European cinema": Diana Elbaum and Jani Thiltges, heads of, respectively, Entre Chien et Loup in Belgium and Samsa Film in Luxemburg. Additionally, they have joined forces with Patrick Quinet, Sébastien Delloye and Claude Waringo to create Liaison Cinématographique, a production company based in Paris.
Under [...]

European Film Awards 2009: Best Documentary Nominations

The European Film Academy has announced the ten non-fiction features up for the 2009 Prix Arte for Best European Documentary.

The nominated documentaries are:

THE BEACHES OF AGNES (Les Plages d’Agnès)
Agnès Varda, France

BELOW SEA LEVEL, Gianfranco Rosi, Italy / USA

BURMA VJ, Anders Østergaard, Denmark

COOKING HISTORY (Ako Sa Varia Dejiny)
Peter Kerekes, Slovakia / Austria / Czech Republic

THE DAMNED OF THE SEA (Les Damnés de la Mer)
Jawad Rhalib, Belgium

DEFAMATION, Yoav Shamir, Denmark / Austria / Israel / USA

THE HEART OF JENIN (Das Herz von Jenin)
Leon Geller & Marcus Vetter, Germany

PIANOMANIA, Lilian Franck & Robert Cibis, Germany / Austria

THE SOUND OF INSECTS – RECORD OF A MUMMY
[...]

GOMORRAH Wins 2008 European Film Award

A chronicle of the workings of the Neapolitan underworld, Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah — based on Roberto Saviano’s non-fiction book — was the big winner at the 2008 European Film Awards, receiving honors for best European film, best director, best actor (Toni Servillo, also for Il Divo), best screenplay (Garrone, Saviano, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso), and best cinematography (Marco Onorato).
Gomorrah, which has been garnering widespread praise at film festivals worldwide (it won the Grand Prix at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival), is Italy’s submission for the best foreign-language film Academy Award.
Curiously, this year’s Palme d’Or winner, The Class, failed to win a single award at the European Film Award ceremony in Copenhagen. Last year’s big [...]

2004 European Film Awards Winners

The German drama Gegen die Wand / Head-On was picked as the best European film at the 2004 European Film Awards ceremony in Barcelona.
Directed by Fatih Akin, voted the year’s best European director, Head-On tells the story of a young Turkish-German woman (Sibel Kekilli) who marries an older Turkish man (Birol Ünel) in order to escape her strict Muslim family. Earlier this year, Head-On won both the Golden Bear and the International Critics’ FIPRESCI prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Additionally, the film has won five German Film Academy awards: Best film, best actor, best actress, best director, and best cinematography (Rainer Klausmann).

Spaniard Javier Bardem (above, with Belén Rueda) was chosen the year’s best actor for his [...]

European Film Awards 2004

2004 European Film Awards
2004 European Film Awards Winners: Forum Convention Center in Barcelona on Dec. 11, 2004
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
Photos: Alberto Estevez / EFE
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
 

EUROPEAN FILM
ETT HÅL I MITT HJÄRTA (A Hole In My Heart), Sweden / Denmark
directed by Lukas Moodysson
produced by Memfis Film, Zentropa, Film I Väst, SVT, Nordic Film- & TV Fund
* GEGEN DIE WAND (Head-On), Germany
directed by Fatih Akin
produced by Wüste Filmproduktion / Corazon International / NDR / ARTE
La Mala educación / Bad Education, Spain
directed by Pedro Almodóvar
produced by El Deseo D.A., S.L.U.
Les Choristes / The Chorus, France / Switzerland
directed by Christophe Barratier
produced by Galatée Films / Pathé Renn Production / France 2 Cinéma / Novo Arturo [...]