‘Fallen Leaves’ & ‘The Zone Of Interest’ Top European Film Award Nominations In Main Categories

Melanie Goodfellow
·4-min read

Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves and UK director Jonathan Glazer The Zone Of Interest lead the nominations in the main categories of the 36th European Film Awards which will take place in Berlin on December 9.

The dramas are nominated in all five key categories of Best European Film, Director, Screenwriter as well as Best Actress and Actor. (Click on film titles for Deadline reviews and interviews)

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Both films world premiered in Competition at Cannes this year, with The Zone Of Interest winning the Grand Prix and Fallen Leaves clinching the Jury Prize. They are representing the UK and Finland respectively in the Best International Feature Film Oscar race.

French director Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall follows with four nominations in all the categories except for best actor, while Poland’s Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border, which won the Venice Special Jury Prize, is next with three nominations.

Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Me Captain, German filmmaker  Ilker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge and the How To Have Sex, by the UK’s Molly Manning Walker clinched two nominations each in different categories.

Other nominations categories unveiled on Tuesday included Best Documentary and Best First Film. Nominees for Best European Documentary include Nicolas Philibert’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner On The Adamant and Tunisia director Kaouther Ben Hania’s hybrid Cannes prize-winning work Four Daughters, a co-production involving France, Tunisia, Germany and Saudi Arabia (scroll down for full list of nominees).

The European Film Awards ceremony is presented by the European Film Academy and European Film Academy Productions.

The nominations are based on the votes of 4,600 members of the European Film Academy on films included in the annual Academy Selection, made up of 35 to 45 films selected by the European Academy Board and a group of experts.

Awards for the craft categories of Best European Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Make-up and Hair, Original Score, Sound and Visual Effects are decided by a specialized a jury and selected from the films in core Academy selection

This year’s nomination video announcement features teenage members of the European Film Academy’s newly launched European Film Club, a new initiative aimed at nurturing film culture in the 12 to 19-year-old demographic. (scroll down to watch video).


These are the 2023 nominees:

European Film

  • ANATOMY OF A FALL (ANATOMIE D’UNE CHUTE)
    Directed by Justine Triet
    produced by Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion
    (France)

  • FALLEN LEAVES (KUOLLEET LEHDET)
    Directed by Aki Kaurismäki
    Produced by Aki Kaurismäki, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff & Reinhard Brundig
    (Finland, Germany)

  • GREEN BORDER (ZIELONA GRANICA)
     Directed by Agnieszka Holland
     Produced by Marcin Wierzchosławski, Fred Bernstein & Agnieszka Holland
    (Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium)

  • ME CAPTAIN (IO CAPITANO)
    Directed by Matteo Garrone
    Produced by Matteo Garrone, Paolo Del Brocco, Ardavan Safaee & Joseph Rouschop
    (Italy, Belgium)

  • THE ZONE OF INTEREST
    Directed by Jonathan Glazer
    Produced by James Wilson & Ewa Puszczyńska
    (United Kingdom, Poland, USA)

European Documentary

  • APOLONIA, APOLONIA
    Directed by Lea Glob (Denmark, Poland)

  • FOUR DAUGHTERS (LES FILLES D’OLFA)
    Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania (France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia)

  • MOTHERLAND
    Directed by Hanna Badziaka & Alexander Mihalkovich (Sweden, Ukraine, Norway)

  • ON THE ADAMANT (SUR L’ADAMANT)
    Directed by Nicolas Philibert (France, Japan)

  • SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD (SAVVUSANNA SÕSARAD)
    Directed by Anna Hints (Estonia, France, Iceland)

European Director

  • Justine Triet for ANATOMY OF A FALL

  • Aki Kaurismäki for FALLEN LEAVES

  • Agnieszka Holland for GREEN BORDER

  • Matteo Garrone for ME CAPTAIN

  • Jonathan Glazer for THE ZONE OF INTEREST

European Actress

  • Sandra Hüller in ANATOMY OF A FALL

  • Eka Chavleishvili in BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY

  • Alma Pöysti in FALLEN LEAVES

  • Mia McKenna-Bruce in HOW TO HAVE SEX

  • Leonie Benesch in THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE

  • Sandra Hüller in THE ZONE OF INTEREST

European Actor

  • Thomas Schubert in AFIRE

  • Jussi Vatanen in FALLEN LEAVES

  • Josh O’Connor in LA CHIMERA

  • Mads Mikkelsen in THE PROMISED LAND

  • Christian Friedel in THE ZONE OF INTEREST

European Screenwriter

  • Justine Triet & Arthur Harari for ANATOMY OF A FALL

  • Aki Kaurismäki for FALLEN LEAVES

  • Maciej Pisuk, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko & Agnieszka Holland for GREEN BORDER

  • İlker Çatak & Johannes Duncker for THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE

  • Jonathan Glazer for THE ZONE OF INTEREST

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI

  • 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES (20.000 ESPECIES DE ABEJAS) directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)

  • HOW TO HAVE SEX directed by Molly Manning Walker (United Kingdom, Greece)

  • LA PALISIADA (ЛЯ ПАЛІСІАДА) directed by Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)

  • SAFE PLACE (SIGURNO MJESTO) directed by Juraj Lerotić (Croatia, Slovenia)

  • THE QUIET MIGRATION (STILLE LIV) directed by Malene Choi (Denmark)

  • VINCENT MUST DIE (VINCENT DOIT MOURIR) directed by Stéphan Castang (France)

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