'The Square' Leads European Film Awards With Five Nominations

Berlin festival winner 'On Body and Soul' and French AIDS drama 'Beats Per Minute' are also strong contenders for this year's EFAs.

Ruben Ostlund's The Square, a satire of the art world starring Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West, is the frontrunner at this year's European Film Awards (EFA) with five nominations, including for best film, comedy, director, screenwriter and actor (Bang).

Just behind is On Body and Soul, the dark love story from Hungarian filmmaker Ildiko Enyedi that won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear earlier this year and which picked up four EFA mentions, including for best film. Other best film nominees include Andrey Zvyagintsev’s divorce drama Loveless and Yorgos Lanthimos' surreal family drama The Killing of a Sacred Deer, both of which nabbed three EFA noms in total. Robin Campillo’s AIDS drama BPM (Beats Per Minute) and Aki Kaurismäki's refugee melodrama The Other Side of Hope scored two noms each.

All are being sold at AFM: The Square with Coproduction Office, BPM with Playtime, Killing of a Sacred Deer at HanWay, On Body and Soul with Films Boutique and Other Side of Hope with The Match Factory.

French stars Isabelle Huppert and Juliette Binoche, nominated for Happy End and Let the Sun Shine In, respectively, will vie in the best actress category along with Germany's Paula Beer (Franz), Brit actress Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) and On Body and Soul star Alexandra Borbely.

Going up against Bang in the best actor contest are Colin Farrell for Killing of a Sacred Deer, Nahuel Perez Biscayart for BPM, Jean-Louis Trintignant for Happy End and Josef Hader for Stefan Zweig — Farewell to Europe.

The winners of the 30th European Film Awards will be announced Dec. 9 during a ceremony in Berlin.

The nominees are:

EUROPEAN FILM

BPM (Beats Per Minute), dir. Robin Campillo

Loveless, dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev

On Body and Soul, dir. Ildiko Enyedi

The Other Side of Hope, dir. Aki Kaurismaki

The Square, dir. Ruben Ostlund

EUROPEAN COMEDY

King of the Belgians, dirs. Jessica Woodworth, Peter Brosens

The Square, dir. Ruben Östlund

Vincent and the End of the World, dir. Christophe van Rompaey

Welcome to Germany, dir. Simon Verhoeven

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR

Ildiko Enyedi for On Body and Soul

Aki Kaurismaki for The Other Side of Hope

Yorgos Lanthimos for The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Ruben Ostlund for The Square

Andrey Zvyagintsev for Loveless

EUROPEAN ACTRESS

Paula Beer for Frantz

Juliette Binoche for Let the Sun Shine In

Alexandra Borbely for On Body and Soul

Isabelle Huppert for Happy End

Florence Pugh for Lady Macbeth

EUROPEAN ACTOR

Claes Bang for The Square

Colin Farrell for The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Josef Hader for Stefan Zweig — Farewell to Europe

Nahuel Perez Biscayart for BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Jean-Louis Trintignant for Happy End

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER

Ildiko Enyedi for On Body and Soul

Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou for The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Oleg Negin & Andrey Zvyagintsev for Loveless

Ruben Ostlund for The Square

François Ozon for Frantz

EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY

Austerlitz, Sergei Loznitsa

Communion, Anna Zamecka

La Chana, Lucija Stojevic

Strangers in Paradise, Guido Hendrikx

The Good Postman, Tonislav Hristov

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY – Prix FIPRESCI

Bloody Milk, Hubert Charuel

Godless, Ralitza Petrova

Lady Macbeth, William Oldroyd

Summer 1993, Carla Simon

The Eremites, Ronny Trocker

EUROPEAN ANIMATION FEATURE FILM

Ethel & Ernest, Roger Mainwood

Louise by the Shore, Jean-François Laguionie

Loving Vincent, Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman

Zombiellenium, Arthur de Pins & Alexis Ducord