Lukas Dhont’s Belgian coming-of-age drama Close, Ali Abbasi’s Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s satirical black comedy Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, are topping the nominations for the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), unveiled Tuesday.
Each of the acclaimed titles, which also happen to be Oscar contenders for the 2023 Academy Awards in the best international feature category, received EFA nominations for best European film, best director, best screenwriter and an acting category apiece.
Also in the running for the EFA for best European film are Alcarràs from Spain’s Carla Simón and Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s period drama Corsage.
The European honors are often viewed as a bellwether for the Oscars. Although last year’s EFA’s weren’t a particularly strong Oscars predictor, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World was nominated for best European screenwriter on its way to earning an Oscar nom in the same category, as well as a nod for best international film. Multi-EFA nominee Hand of God, from Italy’s Paolo Sorrentino, also nabbed an Oscar nomination.
French filmmaker Alice Diop joins the frontrunners this year in the best director category with her acclaimed fictional filmmaking debut, Saint Omer, as does Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski with his big-screen love letter to the humble donkey, EO, and Kreutzer with Corsage.
Kenneth Branagh also broke through in the best screenplay category for his 2021 period drama Belfast, as did Simón and her co-writer Arnau Vilaró with their work on Alcarràs.
Penelope Cruz earned a best European actress nomination for her performance in Parallel Mothers, which also brought her an Oscar nomination earlier this year. The Spanish star is nominated alongside Luxembourgish actress Vicky Krieps from Corsage, Holy Spider‘s Zar Amir Ebrahimi, French screen siren Léa Seydoux for Mia Hansen-Løve’s drama One Fine Morning and Meltem Kaptan in Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush, based on the real-life Guantanamo Bay case.
Triangle of Sadness‘s Croatian-Danish supporting star Zlatko Burić, unforgettable as a bellicose Russian oligarch, is joined in the best European actor category by Irish rising star Paul Mescal from Aftersun, Eden Dambrine in Close, Danish-American Elliott Crosset Hove of Godland and Italy’s Pierfrancesco Favino for his turn in Mario Martone’s Nostalgia.
This year’s European Film Awards ceremony will take place on Dec. 10 in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Find the full list of nominees below.
European Film
• ALCARRÀS directed by Carla Simón, produced by María Zamora, Stefan Schmitz, Tono
Folguera & Giovanni Pompili (Spain/ Italy)
• CLOSE directed by Lukas Dhont, produced by Michiel Dhont, Dirk Impens, Michel Saint-Jean,
Laurette Schillings, Arnold Heslenfeld, Frans van Gestel & Jacques-Henri Bronckart (Belgium/
France/ Netherlands)
• CORSAGE directed by Marie Kreutzer, produced by Alexander Glehr, Johanna Scherz,
Bernard Michaux, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade & Jean-Christophe Reymond
(Austria/ Luxembourg/ Germany/ France)
• HOLY SPIDER directed by Ali Abbasi, produced by Sol Bondy & Jacob Jarek (Denmark/
Germany/ Sweden/ France)
• TRIANGLE OF SADNESS directed by Ruben Östlund, produced by Erik Hemmendorff &
Philippe Bober (Sweden/ Germany/ France/ United Kingdom)
European Documentary
• A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark/ Sweden/
Finland/ Ukraine)
• GIRL GANG directed by Susanne Regina Meures (Switzerland)
• MARIUPOLIS 2 directed by Mantas Kvedaravičius (Lithuania/ France/ Germany)
• THE BALCONY MOVIE (FILM BALKONOWY) directed by Paweł Łoziński (Poland)
• THE MARCH ON ROME (MARCIA SU ROMA) directed by Mark Cousins (Italy)
European Director
• Lukas Dhont for CLOSE
• Marie Kreutzer for CORSAGE
• Jerzy Skolimowski for EO
• Ali Abbasi for HOLY SPIDER
• Alice Diop for SAINT OMER
• Ruben Östlund for TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
European Actress
• Vicky Krieps in CORSAGE
• Zar Amir Ebrahimi in HOLY SPIDER
• Léa Seydoux in ONE FINE MORNING
• Penélope Cruz in PARALLEL MOTHERS
• Meltem Kaptan in RABIYE KURNAZ VS. GEORGE W. BUSH
European Actor
• Paul Mescal in AFTERSUN
• Eden Dambrine in CLOSE
• Elliott Crosset Hove in GODLAND
• Pierfrancesco Favino in NOSTALGIA
• Zlatko Burić in TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
European Screenwriter
• Carla Simón & Arnau Vilaró for ALCARRÀS
• Kenneth Branagh for BELFAST
• Lukas Dhont & Angelo Tijssens for CLOSE
• Ali Abbasi & Afshin Kamran Bahrami for HOLY SPIDER
• Ruben Östlund for TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI
• 107 MOTHERS (CENZORKA) directed by Peter Kerekes (Slovakia/ Czech Republic/ Ukraine)
• LOVE ACCORDING TO DALVA (DALVA) directed by Emmanuelle Nicot (Belgium/ France)
• OTHER PEOPLE (INNI LUDZIE) directed by Aleksandra Terpińska (Poland/ France)
• PAMFIR directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/ France/ Poland/ Germany/ Chile)
• SMALL BODY (PICCOLO CORPO) directed by Laura Samani (Italy/ Slovenia/ France)
• SONNE directed by Kurdwin Ayub produced by Ulrich Seidl (Austria)
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