The European Film Academy and EFA Productions have announced the titles of the 48 films that have been recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards 2009. With 25 countries included in the diverse list of films, Ireland is represented by the IFTA winning ‘Kisses’ written and directed by Lance Daly.
‘Kisses’ tells the story of two youngsters, Dylan (Shane Curry) and Kylie (Kelly O’Neill) who run away from home at Christmas time and spend a night of wonder and terror on the streets of Dublin’s city centre. ‘Kisses’ was written, directed and produced by Lance Daly and co-produced by Macdara Kelleher, Les Kelly and Nial O’Brien. ‘Kisses’ has won numerous awards including the Best Director IFTA for Lance Daly and the Feature Film Award at the 2008 Galway Film Fleadh.
The 20 countries with the most EFA Members each voted one national film directly into the selection list and this list was then completed when a Selection Committee consisting of EFA Board Members and invited experts Gunnar Bergdahl (Sweden), Stefan Kitanov (Bulgaria), Derek Malcolm (UK), and Nikolaj Nikitin (Germany) has included further films. Other films on the long-list include; Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Broken Embraces’; Lars von Trier’s ‘Antichrist’; Anne Fontaine’s ‘Coco Before Chanel’; Ken Loach’s ‘Looking for Eric’ and Stephen Daldry’s ‘The Reader’ which was co-produced by Irish producer Redmond Morris.
In the coming weeks, the 2,000 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the different award categories. The nominations will then be announced on 7 November at the Sevilla European Film Festival in Spain.
The 22nd European Film Awards and the ceremonial presentation of the winners will take place in Germany’s Ruhr Metropolis on 12 December. For more information visit www.europeanfilmacademy.org
