Four eclectic animated features have been selected as the nominees for this year’s European Film Awards. The winner will be presented at the 33rd European Film Awards ceremony, streamed live from Berlin on December 12.
The four eclectic nominees, which clearly reflect the wealth of storylines and sophisticated animation styles outside the U.S. are:
- Rémy Chayé’s Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary (France, Denmark)
- Aurel’s Josep (France, Belgium, Spain)
- Sergio Pablos’ Klaus (Spain)
- Andrey Khrzhanovsky’s The Nose Or The Conspiracy Of Mavericks (Russia).
Calamity, A Childhood Of Martha Jane Cannary is a re-imagining of the early days of trail-blazing icon Calamity Jane in the American Wild West in 1863. The beautifully animated, 2D film won the Cristal for Best Feature at Annecy Animation Festival in June.
Written by Jean-Louis Milesi and directed by French cartoonist Aurel, Josep made its debut at the virtual Cannes Festival earlier this year and won the Audience Prize and Best Screenplay Award at the Athens Film Festival. The film centers on a dying gendarme who recalls his encounter with Catalan artist Josep Bartoli in a French concentration camp after the Spanish Civil War.
After winning a BAFTA and GOYA and being nominated for an Oscar and winning seven prizes at the Annie Awards earlier this year, Klaus, the acclaimed 2D-animated feature by Pablos and his team at SPA makes it way to the European Film Awards. Penned by Pablos, Jim Mahoney and Zach Lewis, the film was produced and distributed by Netflix.
Khrzhanovsky’s The Nose Or The Conspiracy Of Mavericks premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January, and won the special jury award at Annecy. The darkly comic film is inspired by Russian author Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 satirical short story The Nose and Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1928 opera of the same name. Produced by Studio Shar and written by Khrzhanovsky with Yury Arabov, the movie provides a heart-wrenching picture of the Russian Avant-Garde and the 20th Century. The film took home an Honorable Mention during last month’s Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival as well.
The nominations were chosen by a committee comprised of EFA board member Béatrice Thiriet, director Anca Damian, and producer Antonio Saura; and producers Diogo Carvalho and Camilla Deakin, and Norbert Laporte, representing Cartoon, the European Association of Animation Film. Previous winners of the European Film Awards include Bunuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, Another Day of Life, Loving Vincent, My Life as a Zucchini, and Song of the Sea.
For more info, visit europeanfilmawards.eu
