European Film Awards: France’s ‘Emilia Pérez’ and Spain’s ‘The Room Next Door’ lead nominations

The European Film Academy has announced the nominees in key categories of the 37th European Film Awards, which will be held in the Swiss city of Lucerne on 7 December.  

Double Cannes winner and French Oscar entry Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard and this year’s Golden Lion winner The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar lead the nominations, with both films nominated for Best European Film, Director and Screenplay, as well as Best Actress for Karla Sofia Gascón in Emilia Pérez and Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door. 

Other frontrunners include Germany’s Oscar entry The Seed of the Sacred Fig by exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, which has been nominated for Best Film, Director and Screenplay. 

Other notable nominations include Andrea Arnold’s Bird and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance.  

For the first time this year, films nominated for Best European Documentary and Best Animated Feature Film are also eligible in the Best European Film category. This means that the Best European Film nominations list for 2024 is larger than previous years, and includes titles like Mati Diop’s Golden Bear winner Dahomey and Latvian Gints Zilbalodis’ animated film Flow.  

Another change will take place after this year’s European Film Awards: the 2024 ceremony will be the last time it takes place in December. From 2026 onwards, the ceremony will take place in January, so that the awards are part of the wider awards season conversation.

The European Film Awards are something of a bellwether for which EU titles are likely to be nominated in the upcoming US awards season.  

Last year, Anatomy of a Fall won four of the five major prizes, including Best European Film, and went on to nab five Oscar nominations. Director Justine Triet and co-writer