EFA Announces Documentary Shortlist for European Film Awards 2017
The European Film Academy (EFA) and EFA Productions have announced the EFA documentary selection 2017 featuring 15 European documentaries recommended for a nomination for this year's 30th European Film Awards.
by Tonislav Hristov
Also known as the European Oscars, this year's edition of the European Film Awards will see five nominations for the prestigious European Documentary 2017 award, to be selected out of a total of 15 titles that have now been announced as the official shortlist by the EFA. Ten documentary festivals have recommended to the documentary committee one film each which has had its world premiere at the respective festival’s latest edition. EDN - European Documentary Network was involved in the selection of festivals that suggested potential contenders for the documentary competition. The selected festivals are:
• IDFA (Netherlands)
• CPH:DOX (Denmark)
• Visions du Réel (Switzerland)
• DokLeipzig (Germany)
• Docslisboa (Portugal)
• Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Greece)
• Jihlava (Czech Republic)
• Cinéma du Réel (France)
• Krakow Film Festival (Poland)
• Sheffield Doc/Fest (UK)
Based on the festival recommendations and individually submitted films, the documentary committee, consisting of EFA Board Members Roberto Cicutto (Italy), Vanessa Henneman (Netherlands) and Marek Rozenbaum (Israel), commissioning editor Sari Volanen (YLE, Finland) and EDN Director Paul Pauwels (Belgium), decided on the EFA documentary selection. The films represent a wide range of relevant socio-political topics and include two titles that had previously been pitched and/or co-developed at EDN workshops and forums. Ultra by Balazs Simonyi took part as a project in Docs in Thessaloniki and Tonislav Hristov's The Good Postman participated in the Twelve for the Future Rough Cut Session in 2016 (as the project The Mayor of Nowhere).
Members of EFA will vote for five documentary nominations. Based on these nominations, the EFA Members will then elect the European Documentary 2017 which will be announced during the award ceremony on 9th of December in Berlin.
EFA Documentary Shortlist:
Austerlitz | Director: Sergei Loznitsa | Producer: Sergei Loznitsa | Germany
Communion | D: Anna Zamecka | P: Zuzanna Krol, Anna Wydra, Izabela Lopuch, Hanka Kastelicova | Poland
Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas | D: Joakim Demmer | P: Margarete Jangård, Heino Deckert, John Webster | Sweden, Germany, Finland
How to Meet a Mermaid | Director: Coco Schrijber | Producer: Frank van den Engel | Netherlands, Denmark
La Chana | D: Lucija Stojevic | P: Lucija Stojevic, Greta Olafsdottir, Deirdre Towers, Susan Muska | Spain, Iceland, USA
Libera nos Liberami | D: Federica Di Giacomo | P: Francesco Virga, Paolo Santoni | Italy, France
Nothingwood | D: Sonia Kronlund | P: Laurent Lavolé & Melanie Andernach | France, Germany
School Life in Loco Parentis | P: Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane | P: David Rane, Montse Portabella, Angelo Orlando, Efthymia Zymvragaki | Ireland, Spain
Stranger in Paradise | Director: Guido Hendrikx | Producer: Frank van den Engel | Netherlands
Taste of Cement | D: Ziad Kalthoum | P: Ansgar Frerich, Tobias Siebert, Eva Kemme | Germany, Lebanon, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar
The Good Postman | Director: Tonislav Hristov | Producer: Kaarle Aho | Finland, Bulgaria
Le Venerable W | D: Barbet Schroeder | P: Margaret Menegoz, Lionel Baier | France, Switzerland
The War Show | D: Andreas Dalsgaard, Obaidah Zytoon | P: Miriam Nørgaard, Alaa Hassan | Denmark, Syria, Finland
Ultra | D: Balazs Simonyi | P: Laszlo Jozsa, Balazs Simonyi, Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof, Hanka Kastelicova, Anna Zavorszky | Hungary, Greece
West of the Jordan River | D: Amos Gitai | P: Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, Romain Icard, Stéphanie Schorter, Amos Gitai, Shuki Friedman & Laurent Truchot | France
For more information on the films and a complete list of the award categories: www.europeanfilmawards.eu
Related links at edn.network
Search among 600+ events in the DOCalendar
See Upcoming EDN Activities
Follow EDN on and