‘Fatherland,’ ‘La Bola Negra,’ ‘Fjord’ Lead European Film Award Nominations

Pawel Pawlikowski’s German black-and-white period drama Fatherland, and La Bola Negra, a gay Spanish epic from director Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, are the frontrunners for the 2027 European Film Awards, with Fatherland racking up 11 EFA nominations to 10 for La Bola Negra. Both Fatherland and La Bola Negra picked up EFA noms in the best European film, European director, European screenwriter and European cinematographer categories, with Fatherland also receiving European actress and European actor noms for leads Hanns Zischler and Sandra Hüller for their performances, respectively, as Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann and daughter Erika. Hüller received a second best European actress nom, for her starring role as a 17th-century woman masquerading as a man in Markus Schleinzer’s Rose. She’s going up against Penélope Cruz, nominated for Florian Zeller’s Bunker; Léa Seydoux for her leading role in Marie Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster; Mathilde Arcel for her performance in May el-Toukhy’s Venice Festival winner Woman Unknown; and Renate Reinsve for her starring role in Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or-winning Fjord. Sandra Hüller in Rose. The Match Factory/Courtesy Everett Collection Penelope Cruz in Bunker. Tamara Arranz/Blue Morning Pictures/Mod Producciones/Pathé Films/Sony Pictures Classics Léa Seydoux in Gentle Monster. Courtesy of Netflix Mathilde Arcel in Woman Unknown. Venice Film Festival Sebastian Stan, who plays Reinsve’s fundamentalist Christian husband in Fjord, received a best European actor nomination, alongside Zischler; Javier Bardem, nominated for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved; Swann Arlaud for his turn in Emmanuel Marre’s A Man of His Time; and Andrew Scott, nominated for his performance in Simon Stone’s Elsinore as Ian Charleson, the British actor dying of AIDS who throws himself into a final performance of Hamlet. Sebastian Stan in Fjord. Neon/Courtesy Everett Collection Andrew Scott in Elsinore. Anthony Dickenson/FOCUS FEATURES A Man of His Time Cannes Film Festival The Beloved Cannes Film Festival Nominated for best European film, alongside Fatherland and La Bola Negra, are Fjord, Woman Unknown and La Gradiva, a French coming-of-age drama from first-time director Marine Atlan. Courtesy of Chicago Film Festival Best European director nominees, alongside Pawlikowski and Ambrossi/Calvo, are Mungiu for Fjord, Sandra Wollner for the German drama Everytime and Andrey Zvyagintsev for the Russian crime thriller Minotaur. Everytime Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Minotaur Mubi The European Animation Film nominees are: In Waves, directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen; Iron Boy from Louis Clichy; Jim Queen, directed by Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané; Lucy Lost, directed by Olivier Clert; and Viva Carmen from Sébastien Laudenbach. In Waves Courtesy of Silex Films Iron Boy Eddy-Cinema-Beside-Productions-Regular-Production-France-3-Cinema-Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes-Cinema-RTBF Jim Queen Courtesy of Bobbypills/Umedia Viva Carmen Courtesy of Global Constellation/Folivari Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s NAZA, an exposé of Israel’s war in Gaza, produced by The Guardian and Britain’s JW Films, was nominated for best European documentary, alongside Letters From the Silenced Country from director Andrei Kutsila; Pegah Ahangarani’s Rehearsals for a Revolution; To Hold a Mountain from directors Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić; and Whispers in the Woods, directed by Vincent Munier. NAZA The Guardian Rehearsals for a Revolution Cannes Film Festival All of the best animation and best documentary nominees are also nominated in the best European film category. The 39th European Film Awards will be held in Athens on Jan. 16, 2027. The full list of 2027 European Film Award nominees is below. European Film Fatherland, director: Paweł Pawlikowski Fjord, director: Cristian Mungiu In Waves, director: Phuong Mai Nguyen Iron Boy (Le Corset), director: Louis Clichy Jim Queen, director: Marco Nguyen, Nicolas Athané La Bola Negra, directors: Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi La Gradiva, director: Marine Atlan Letters From the Silenced Country (Listy), director: Andrei Kutsila Lucy Lost, director: Olivier Clert Naza, directors: Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor Rehearsals for a Revolution, director: Pegah Ahangarani To Hold a Mountain (Planina), directors: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić Viva Carmen (Carmen, L’Oiseau Rebelle), director: Sébastien Laudenbach Whispers in the Woods (Le Chant des Forêts), director: Vincent Munier Woman Unknown (Kvinde Ukendt), director: May el-Toukhy European Animation Film In Waves, director: Phuong Mai Nguyen Iron Boy (Le Corset), director: Louis Clichy Jim Queen, directors: Marco Nguyen, Nicolas Athané Lucy Lost, director: Olivier Clert Viva Carmen (Carmen, L’Oiseau Rebelle), director: Sébastien Laudenbach European Documentary Letters From the Silenced Country (Listy), director: Andrei Kutsila Naza, director: Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor Rehearsals for a Revolution, director: Pegah Ahangarani To Hold a Mountain (Planina), directors: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić Whispers in the Woods (Le Chant des Forêts), director: Vincent Munier European Director Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi for La Bola Negra Cristian Mungiu for Fjord Paweł Pawlikowski for Fatherland Sandra Wollner for Everytime Andrey Zvyagintsev for Minotaur European Screenwriter Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, Alberto Conejero for La Bola Negra Cristian Mungiu for Fjord Paweł Pawlikowski, Henk Handloegten for Fatherland Sandra Wollner for Everytime Simon Liashenko, Andrey Zvyagintsev for Minotaur European Actress Mathilde Arcel in Woman Unknown Penélope Cruz in Bunker Sandra Hüller in Fatherland Sandra Hüller in Rose Renate Reinsve in Fjord Léa Seydoux in Gentle Monster European Actor Swann Arlaud in A Man of His Time Javier Bardem in The Beloved Andrew Scott in Elsinore Sebastian Stan in Fjord Hanns Zischler in Fatherland European Casting Director Nina Haun, Magdalena Szwarcbart, Karen Lindsay Stewart for Fatherland Eva Leira, Yolanda Serrano for La Bola Negra Jessica Ronane for Elsinore European Cinematographer Gris Jordana for La Bola Negra Frank van den Eeden for Coward Łukasz Żal for Fatherland European Composer (Original Score) Volker Bertelmann for Bunker Tara Nome Doyle for Rose Alberto Iglesias for Bitter Christmas European Costume Designer Doris Bartelt for Rose Ana López Cobos for La Bola Negra Rebecca Richmond, Jūlija Volkinšteine for Woman Unknown European Editor Alberto Gutiérrez for La Bola Negra Gesa Jäger for Yellow Letters Paweł Pawlikowski, Piotr Wójcik for Fatherland European Make-up & Hair Artist Pablo Morillas, Marilo Osuna for La Bola Negra Evalotte Oosterop, Pierre Olivier Persin for Coward Waldemar Pokromski for Fatherland European Production Designer Roger Bellés for La Bola Negra Olivier Meidinger for Rose Katarzyna Sobańska, Marcel Sławiński for Fatherland European Sound Robert Farr, Lars Ginzel, Benjamin Hörbe for Naza Lars Ginzel, Tarn Willers for Fatherland Rodrigo Madrigal, Anna Harrington, Alejandro López, Mayte Cazorla for La Bola Negra European Discovery – Prix Fipresci 17, director: Kosara Mitic At Night, director: Beatrice Gibson Cute, director: Marlene Emilie Lyngstad Flesh & Fuel (Du Fioul Dans les Artères), director: Pierre Le Gall The Guest (Gæsten), director: Mads Mengel Thirteen in Gaza, director: Hosam Abu Dan