With two days to go before the 2022 European Film Awards, held this year in Reykjavík, BDE caught up with Mike Downey, EFA chair and President of the LUX Prize of the European Parliament.
“The European Film Awards 2022: European Film Academy’s Documentary Film Selection is as powerful and as diverse as ever,” he commented. “The feature-length documentary films that have been recommended for nomination for the European Film Awards 2022 are the crème de la crème of European cinema. With 15 European countries represented – both EU and non-EU – the [overall] selection once again illustrates the great diversity in European cinema. We welcome all nominees to Reykjavik and celebrate them.”
The show will be broadcast in ten countries and live-streamed by 36 partners in 24 countries. The gala starting at 19.15h (GMT) will also be streamed at europeanfilmawards.eu.
The documentaries competing for the European Documentary Prize are:
- A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark/ Sweden/ Finland/ Ukraine) In Ukraine, children and supportive staff co-exist in a special kind of home, an institution for children who have been removed from their homes while awaiting court custody decisions.
- GIRL GANG directed by Susanne Regina Meures (Switzerland). The story of The 14-year-old Leonie, a successful influencer living on the outskirts of Berlin, and that of her parents.
- MARIUPOLIS 2 directed by Mantas Kvedaravičius (Lithuania/ France/ Germany). In 2022, the late Mantas Kvedaravičius went back to Ukraine, Mariupol, during the heart of the war, to be with the people he had met and filmed in 2015. His film depicts life as it continues amidst the bombing and reveals images that convey both tragedy and hope.
- THE BALCONY MOVIE (FILM BALKONOWY) directed by Paweł Łoziński (Poland). Composed from the conversations that the director holds with people passing by in the street under his Warsaw apartment, each story in ‘The Balcony Movie’ is unique and deals with the way we try to cope with life as individuals. All together, they create a portrait of contemporary human life, and the passers-by present a composite picture of today’s world.
- THE MARCH ON ROME (MARCIA SU ROMA) directed by Mark Cousins (Italy). A film that depicts the ascent of fascism in Italy, and its fallout across 1930s Europe.
“I’m delighted that the European Film Awards are back live for the first time since the pandemic,” continued European Film Academy’s Downey. “And that’s not the only first that will be happening in Reykjavik. For the very first time we will present our Sustainability Award, which has been long gestating with the World Bank’s Connect4Climate; European Green Deal of the European Commission will receive the first European Sustainability Award. Ursula von der Leyen will pick it up. It is also the first time we have given an honorary award to a Palestinian [filmmaker] Elia Suleiman. Iceland was the first Western European country to recognise the independence of Palestine. Full diplomatic relations exist between the two countries.”
“I’m also particularly proud of the diverse selection of films and filmmakers, among them Saint-Omer by French director Alice Diop, who’s the daughter of Senegalese parents, and Holy Spider by the Danish director of Iranian origin Ali Abassi. Two other women have multiple nominations: Carla Simón for Best Director and Best Film for Alcarràs. And with three nominations, Marie Kreutzer and her film Corsage is also a strong presence.”
“It’s also great,” he continued, “that, exceptionally, this year’s Eurimages Co-Production Award is given to not one, but all producers of Ukraine, as an expression of strong appreciation for the growing quality of Ukrainian production in the past years, and as a sign of ongoing support now that the infrastructure for production support within Ukraine has collapsed. We continue our support to Ukrainian film producers as we did when war broke out and we established an emergency fund for film makers via our ICFR affiliation.”
Notable guests (booth doc and fiction) of the Reykjavík event include directors Marco Bellocchio (winner European Innovative Storytelling), Elia Suleiman (winner European Achievement in World Cinema) and Margarethe von Trotta (winner European Lifetime Achievement), nominated actors and actresses Zlatko Burić (nominee European Actor: Triangle of Sadness), Elliott Crosset Hove (nominee European Actor: Godland), Eden Dambrine (nominee European Actor: Close), Pierfrancesco Favino (nominee European Actor: Nostalgia), Meltem Kaptan (nominee European Actress: Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush) and Léa Seydoux (nominee European Actress: One Fine Morning), nominated directors Ali Abbasi (nominee European Film, Director and Screenwriter: Holy Spider), Lukas Dhont (nominee European Film, Director and Screenwriter: Close), Alice Diop (nominee European Director: Saint Omer), Marie Kreutzer (nominee European Director: Corsage), Ruben Östlund (nominee European Film, Director and Screenwriter: Triangle of Sadness), Carla Simón (nominee European Film: Alcarràs) and Jerzy Skolimowski (nominee European Director: EO).
