European Film Academy Unveils Short List For 39th European Film Awards
The European Film Academy has unveiled the shortlist of films in the running for prizes at its 39th European Film Awards ceremony scheduled to take place on January 16, 2027 in Athens.
A total of 68 feature films have been shortlisted for a possible nomination for the European Film Awards, with the winners voted for by members of the European Film Academy.
Forty-five films are selected for the fiction shortlist including Cannes 2026 Palme d’Or winner Fjord, Venice Golden Lion winner Woman Unknown and awards season frontrunners such as La Bola Negra and Coward.
The 15 titles in the documentary shortlist include bombshell documentary NAZA and French box office break out Whispers in the Woods. The animation shortlist includes festival breakouts In Waves, Iron Boy and Jim Queen.
Representing 40 European countries, the films bring together established and emerging filmmakers, including directors working across borders. Twenty-five films are directed or co-directed by women.
Voted on by more than 5,400 cinema professionals based in some 50 countries across Europe, the European Film Awards have placed themselves at the heart of the wider awards season following a move to a January slot from the 2026 ceremony onwards, having taken place in December for many years.
The January 16, 2027 slot once again falls the day after the end of nomination voting in the Academy Awards on January 15, and before the January 21 nominations announcement. The Golden Globes will also be done and dusted with its 2027 ceremony set for January 10.
With campaigning largely on hold ahead of the Academy Awards nominations announcement, the January 16 slot allows European teams in the running to return to Europe from L.A. for the ceremony in Athens, before hitting the campaign trail again if they have made it on to the final short lists.
ANIMATION SHORTLIST
- DECORADO directed by Alberto Vázquez (Spain, Portugal)
- IN WAVES directed by Phuong May Nguyen, (France, Belgium)
- IRON BOY (LE CORSET) directed by Louis Clichy (France, Belgium)
- JIM QUEEN directed by Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athané (France, Belgium)
- JULIÁN directed by Louise Bagnall (Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada, Denmark)
- LUCY LOST directed by Olivier Clert (France)
- MONSTER MIA directed by Verena Fels (Austria, Germany, Spain)
- VIVA CARMEN (CARMEN, L’OISEAU REBELLE) directed by Sébastien Laudenbach (France)
DOCUMENTARY SHORTLIST
- A FOX UNDER A PINK MOON (ROOBAH VA MAH SOORATI) directed by Mehrdad Oskouei & Soraya Akhlaghi (France, Denmark, Iran, United States)
- AMAZOMANIA directed by Nathan Grossman (Sweden, Denmark, France)
- BUGBOY directed by Lucas Paleocrassas (Greece, Denmark, France)
- CITIZEN OSAMA directed by Ahmed Hassouna (France, Palestine)
- CLOSURE (BEZ KOŃCA) directed by Michaƚ Marczak (Poland, France)
- EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra (United Kingdom, Qatar)
- LA BELLE ANNÉ directed by Angelica Ruffier (Sweden, Norway)
- LETTERS FROM THE SILENCED COUNTRY (LISTY) directed by Andrei Kutsila (Poland, Lithuania, Germany)
- NAZA directed by Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor (United Kingdom)
- QUEER EDWARD II directed by Theo Rollason (United Kingdom)
- REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION directed by Pegah Ahangarani (Czech Republic, Spain)
- RESCUE directed by Sine Plambech (Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Iceland, Germany)
- TO HOLD A MOUNTAIN (PLANINA) directed by Biljana Tutorov & Petar Glomazić (Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia)
- TRACES (СЛІДИ / SLIDY) directed by Alisa Kovalenko & Marysia Nikitiuk (Ukraine, Poland)
- WHISPERS IN THE WOODS (LE CHANT DES FORÊTS) directed by Vincent Munier(France)
FICTION SHORTLIST
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JO: CHAPTER PHAEDRA (ΜΙΑ ΜΕΡΑ ΣΤΗ ΖΩΗ ΤΗΣ ΤΖΟ: ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟ ΦΑΙΔΡΑ / MIA MERA STI ZOI THIS TZO: KEFALO FAIDRA) directed by Jacqueline Lentzou (Greece, Germany, France)
- A MAN OF HIS TIME (NOTRE SALUT) directed by Emmanuel Marre (France, Belgium)
- BITTER CHRISTMAS (AMARGA NAVIDAD) directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
- BLACK MONEY FOR WHITE NIGHTS (ЧЕРНИ ПАРИ ЗА БЕЛИ НОЩИ / CHERNI PARI ZA BELI NOSHTI) directed by Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria, Greece)
- BRACE YOUR HEART (GARRAT DU VÁIMMU) directed by Amanda Kernell (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland)
- BUCKING FASTARD directed by Werner Herzog (Ireland, United States, Slovenia)
- BUNKER directed by Florian Zeller (France, Spain)
- CONVERSATION WITH THE SEA (HIWAR MA’ ALBAHR) directed by Muayad Alayan (Palestine, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
- COWARD directed by Lukas Dhont (Belgium, France, Netherlands)
- DAU directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky (Germany, France, Sweden)
- DE GAULLE: RÉSISTANCE (PART 1) / DE GAULLE: LIBERTÉ (PART 2) directed by Antonin Baudry (France, Belgium)
- DIANE IN THE LOOP (UN DÉTOUR PAR DIANE) directed by Ann Sirot & Raphaël Balboni (Belgium, France)
- DUA directed by Blerta Basholli (Kosovo, Switzerland, France)
- ELSINORE directed by Simon Stone (United Kingdom, France, Italy, United States)
- EVERYTIME directed by Sandra Wollner (Germany, Austria)
- FATHERLAND directed by Paweł Pawlikowski (Poland, Germany, Italy, France)
- FJORD directed by Cristian Mungiu (Romania, France, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland)
- GENTLE MONSTER directed by Marie Kreutzer (Austria, Germany, France, Sweden)
- GROWTH OF THE SOIL (MARKENS GRØDE) directed by Hans Petter Moland (Norway, Denmark)
- HOLD ONTO ME (ΚΡΑΤΑ ΜΕ / KRATA ME) directed by Myrsini Aristidou (Cyprus, Greece, Denmark)
- HOW TO DIVORCE DURING THE WAR (SKYRYBOS KARO METU) directed by Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, Czech Republic)
- I MATTER (EU CONTEZ) directed by Alina Șerban (Romania, Germany, Belgium)
- I SEE BUILDINGS FALL LIKE LIGHTNING directed by Clio Barnard (United Kingdom)
- IVAN & HADOUM (IVÁN & HADOUM) directed by Ian de la Rosa (Spain, Germany, Belgium)
- LA BOLA NEGRA directed by Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi (Spain, France)
- LA GRADIVA directed by Marine Atlan (France, Italy)
- MINOTAUR (MINOTAURE) directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev (France, Germany, Latvia)
- ONLY BEAUTIFUL THINGS TO LOOK AT (PRAMEŇ) directed by Ivan Ostrochovský (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary)
- RED ROCKS (LES ROCHES ROUGES) Bruno Dumont (Portugal, France, Italy, Spain)
- ROSE directed by Markus Schleinzer (Austria, Germany)
- SALVATION (KURTULUŞ) directed by Emin Alper (Turkey, France, Netherlands, Greece, Saudi Arabia)
- SHAME AND MONEY directed by Visar Morina (Germany | Kosovo | Slovenia | Albania | North Macedonia | Belgium)
- SUPPORTING ROLE (მეორეხარისხოვანი როლი / MEOREKHARISKHOVANI ROLI) directed by Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, United States)
- TENDER LOVING CARE directed by Mike Leigh (United Kingdom)
- THE BELOVED (EL SER QUERIDO) directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain, France)
- THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (LE JOURNAL D’UNE FEMME DE CHAMBRE) Radu Jude (France, Romania)
- THE DREAMED ADVENTURE (DAS GETRÄUMTE ABENTEUER) directed by Valeska Grisebach (Germany, France, Bulgaria, Austria)
- THE GUEST (GÆSTEN) directed by Mads Mengel (Denmark)
- THE SOUNDMAN (RADIOMAN) directed by Frank Van Passel (Belgium, Netherlands)
- THE SPIRAL (L’ESTRANEA) directed by Paolo Strippoli (Italy, France, Belgium)
- TO THE VICTORY! (ЗА ПЕРЕМОГУ! /ZA PEREMOHU!) directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych (Ukraine, Lithuania)
- TRULY NAKED directed by Muriel d’Ansembourg (Netherlands, France, Belgium)
- WOMAN UNKNOWN (KVINDE UKENDT) directed by May el-Toukhy (Denmark, Latvia, Sweden)
- YELLOW LETTERS (GELBE BRIEFE) directed by İlker Çatak (Germany, France, Turkey)
- YOU DON’T BELONG HERE (NU E LOCUL TĂU AICI) directed by Florin Şerban (Romania)
