The shortlists for the 39th European Film Awards, which take place 16 January 2027, were unveiled October 14 by the European Film Academy (EFA). These include 15 films that will compete for the Best Documentary award, joining the 45 films that are selected for the fiction shortlist, and the eight are on the animation shortlist.
“The awards are among the most prestigious in the industry to celebrate the finest achievements in European cinema,” writes the EFA. “Together, they celebrate the excellence, diversity and creativity of European cinema, reflecting its many cultures, languages and perspectives while exploring some of today’s most pressing issues, from migration and cultural clashes to minority communities, gender and political freedom.”
The Documentary shortlist comprises the following films:
- A Fox Under a Pink Moon (Fr-Den-Iran-US) Dir. Mehrdad Oskouei & Soraya Akhlaghi
- Amazomania (Swe-Den-Fr) Dir. Nathan Grossman
- Bugboy (Gr-Den-Fr) Dir. Lucas Paleocrassas
- Citizen Osama (Fr-Palestine) Dir. Ahmed Hassouna
- Closure (Pol-Fr) Dir. Michaƚ Marczak
- Everybody to Kenmure Street (UK-Qatar) Dir. Felipe Bustos Sierra
- La Belle Année (Swe-Nor) Dir. Angelica Ruffier
- Letters From the Silenced Country (Pol-Lith-Ger) Dir. Andrei Kutsila
- NAZA (UK) Dir. Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor
- Queer Edward II (UK) Dir. Theo Rollason
- Rehearsals for a Revolution (Cz-Sp) Dir. Pegah Ahangarani
- Rescue (Den-It-Swe-Iceland-Ger) Dir. Sine Plambech
- To Hold a Mountain (Serbia-Fr-Montenegro-Slovenia-Croatia) Dir. Biljana Tutorov & Petar Glomazić
- Traces (Ukr-Pol) Dir. Alisa Kovalenko & Marysia Nikitiuk
- Whispers in the Woods (Fr) Dir. Vincent Munier
The announcement of the European Film Awards Shortlist marks the first step in the awarding procedure. In the coming weeks, the 5,700 members of the European Film Academy will watch the shortlisted films and vote on the nominations, with the exception of the ‘European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI’, ‘European Short Film’, ‘European Young Audience Award’, ‘LUX Audience Award’ and Honorary Awards, which follow separate selection procedures.
On 1 November 2026, the nominations for the ‘European Young Audience Award’ will be announced at the International Film Festival Glasgow. On 13 November the nominations for the ‘European Short Film’, selected by the European Film Academy Short Film Network, will be revealed at the Seville European Film Festival. The nominees for the ‘LUX Audience Award’ will be unveiled on 25 November 2026.
The European Film Awards are presented by the European Film Academy and European Film Academy Productions.
