Compartment No6, Flee, The Worst Person in the World among top EFA nominations

The Cannes co-Jury Prize winner Compartment No6 by Finnish writer/director Juho Kuosmanen, leads the nominations with three accolades - for Best Film, Actor (Yuriy Borisov) and Actress (Seidi Haarla). The film produced by Aamu Film Company is this year’s Finnish Oscar entry. Kuosmanen's debut feature The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki won the EFA-European Discovery -FIPRESCI Award in 2016.

Norway’s Oscars candidate The Worst Person in the World by Joachim Trier - co-written by the director with his usual writing partner Eskil Vogt- gets a chance to win for Best Screenplay, while Renate Reinsve who gave Norway its first ever Cannes award for Best Actress, is an EFA front-runner in the same category. The film was produced by Oslo Pictures.

Norway is also running in the Best Comedy section with Yngvild Sve Flikke’s Ninjababy produced by Motlys, a category where only two other European films are competing - France’s The Morning After by Méliane Marcaggi, and Spain’s The People Upstairs by Cesc Gay.

Denmark’s Oscar contender Flee directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen is vying both for Best European Documentary and Best European Animated Feature. One of the most celebrated Danish films of 2021, the film produced by Final Cut for Real just picked up the Nordic Council Film Prize. It is also one of five titles vying for the European University Film Award, handed out by university students from across Europe.

Flee Trailer

Sweden has no less than three films competing at the EFAs:

• The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, running for Best European Documentary is co-directed by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri. The film produced by Mantaray Film had its world premiere in competition at Sundance earlier this year and has since screened at 25 international film festivals.
• The Ape Star directed by Linda Hambäck for Lee Film, is competing for Best European Animated Feature. The family film based on Frida Nilsson’s book won the Club of Festivals Children award at the Schlingel Children & Young Audience Festival in October.
• Pleasure by debut director Ninja Thyberg is running for the European Discovery -Prix Fipresci. The film produced by Plattform Produktion, won the a Fipresci Prize in Göteborg and the Jury Prize in Deauville.

Iceland’s Oscar entry Lamb by Valdimar Jóhannsson is also vying for the European Discovery-Prix Fipresci. The film produced by Go to Sheep, picked up in July the Prize of Originality from the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.

Meanwhile Denmark's star director Susanne Bier will receive a European Achievement in World Cinema Award in Berlin. She is the first female director to have collected an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a European Film Award.

More than 4,100 European academy members will vote for the winners, to be announced December 11 at the EFA ceremony in Berlin.