Italian cinema is well represented at the 26th edition of the European Film Awards, with two movies out of six nominated in the category of best film and one for best comedy.
Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” scored four nominations (best film, director, actor Toni Servillo and screenplay); Giuseppe Tornatore’s “The Best Offer” scored three (best film, director and screenplay); Riccardo Milani’s “Welcome Mr. President!” is nominated for best comedy.
Other contenders for European film of the year are the Belgian “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” the Spanish “Blancanieves,” Abdellatif Kechiche’s 2013 Palme d’Or winner “Blue Is The Warmest Colour” and the German “Oh Boy!”.
The awards ceremony will be broadcast from Berlin on December 7.
The 26th annual awards are jointly produced by the Berlin-based European Film Academy and EFA Productions. The nominations have been chosen from a shortlist of 46 films, representing 32 European countries. All films had to have had their first official screening either at a festival or a cinema after July 1, 2012. The European Film Academy is made up of almost 3,000 film professionals. Director Wim Wenders currently serves as president.
At the EFA, Italy has won the award for best film five times, with the last being “Gomorra” by Matteo Garrone in 2008.
“The Great Beauty” is Italy's contender for the Academy Award for best foreign language film.
