European Film Award Nominees

As discussed on the recent podcast, the European Film Awards will never be as big as the Oscars, because even in more multilingual places than the US, distribution is an unpredictable game. France isn't going to get the same titles as Norway. Italy won't show every movie that screens in the UK. Israeli screen choices don't mirror those in Spanish movie houses. And so on and so on... It's tougher to have fun arguments on awards-worth when everyone has access to different movies. But that said, the EFAs are still interesting and offer yet another window into what movies in a given year inspire those with ballots in hand.

European Film

• Il Divo, Italy
• Entre Les Murs (The Class), France
• Gomorra, Italy
• Happy-Go-Lucky, UK
• The Orphanage, Spain
• Waltz With Bashir, Israel/France/Germany

Il Divo and The Orphanage aren't up for Oscars this year (Orphanage was eligible in '07 and didn't receive attention) but Gomorra and The Class are among the likeliest contenders for Best Foreign Language Film. Bashir, being animated, will be a tougher sell for AMPAS voters who have never nominated a cartoon in that category, despite numerous drawn submissions. Happy-Go-Lucky is an Oscar contender of some sort. But what sort?

European Actress

• Hiam Abbass in Lemon Tree
  
• Arta Dobroshi in Lorna’s Silence
• Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky
• Belen Rueda in The Orphanage
• Kristin Scott Thomas in I’ve Loved You So Long
• Ursula Werner in Cloud 9

Two buzzy Oscar contenders for Best Actress right here (Sally & Kristin, come on down). Expect to hear their names all throughout awards season. But will Oscar's final shortlist have room for both? [Note: the other women aren't eligible due to release dates... but Hiam Abbas is featured in the well liked Richard Jenkins vehicle The Visitor and one assumes she'll be campaigned for that.]

European Actor

• Michael Fassbender in Hunger
• Thure Lindhardt & Mads Mikkelsen in Flame & Citron
• James McAvoy in Atonement
• Toni Servillo in Gomorra and Il Divo
  
• Jürgen Vogel in Die Welle (The Wave)
• Elmar Wepper in Cherry Blossoms
  

I know you're reading James McAvoy's name and everything else has become a blur. Snap out of it! Only Fassbender is eligible for Best Actor Oscar consideration but he's an extreme longshot. Why? A) it's not a sentimental performance. B) The movie is even harsher C) a December release for a challenging film without stars or Oscar-quantity director faces a nearly insurmountable task: how to carve out attention for oneself amidst all the crowd pleasers, A-Listers, audience coddling middlebrow fare and the freaking holidays themselves?

You can read the full list of nominees over @ European Films
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