Ambassadors of European Film

The European Film Academy (EFA) is proud to announce a new group of selected, distinguished personalities from the world of European film to promote European cinema and the European Film Awards. In close co-ordination with the European Film Academy, these renowned filmmakers will represent EFA and the European Film Awards at various prestigious events.

The European Film Academy takes great pleasure in welcoming as EFA Ambassadors:

Moritz Bleibtreu, Actor, Germany
One of the best-known German faces in international cinema, Moritz Bleibtreu first shot to international attention as Manni in Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run (1998). He was nominated in 2001 for the EFA People's Choice Award for The Experiment by Oliver Hirschbiegel and is now nominated for European Actor for his role as Andreas Baader in The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)by Uli Edel.

Stephen Daldry, Director, UK
Ever since the nomination of Billy Elliot for the 2000 European Film Awards, Stephen Daldry has worked closely with the European Film Academy. His film The Reader is nominated for the 2009 European Film Awards in three categories (European Film, Actress, and Actor).

Maria de Medeiros, Actress/Director, Portugal
The Portuguese actress director is a true, multilingual European artist. Together with her Catalan colleague Juanjó Puigcorbé, she hosted the European Film Awards 2004 in Barcelona.

Mads Mikkelsen, Actor, Denmark
Be it as a nominee (in 2006 for After The Wedding by Susanne Bier, 2008 for Flame And Citron by Ole Christian Madsen) or as a presenter (2007 in Berlin, 2008 in Copenhagen), the Danish star (known from The Green Butchers (2003) by Anders Thomas Jensen, and the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006)) very much enjoys the company of his European fellows every time he attends the European Film Awards.

Cristian Mungiu, Director, Romania
Follwoing several short films and the feature Occident (2002), Cristian Mungiu was the great Romanian discovery of international audiences when his film 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days won the Palme d'Or in Cannes two years ago and the award for European Film 2007 at the European Film Awards.

Kim Rossi Stuart, Actor, Italy
Having started his acting career at the age of five, among Kim Rossi Stuart's latest performances have been in Gianni Amelio's The Keys to the House (2004) and Michele Placido's Crime Novel (2005). In 2006 he wrote, directed and acted in Along The Ridge.

Belén Rueda, Actress, Spain
The Spanish actress received her first Goya for her role as Julia in The Sea Inside (2004) by Alejandro Amenábar and has been a friend of the European Film Academy since her nomination for The Orphanage by Juan Antonio Bayona last year. With Spain, she represents a country where the Academy experiences great enthusiasm and interest in the European Film Awards.

Johanna ter Steege, Actress, the Netherlands
After her dream debut in The Vanishing, for which she was rewarded with the Best Supporting Actress award in the very first EFA in 1988, Johanna ter Steege has prospered in films by internationally renowned directors such as Robert Altman and István Szabó - the Dutch actress has been a very faithful ally of the European Film Academy since its beginnings.

Maciej Stuhr, Actor, Poland
The popular Polish actor and comedian Maciej Stuhr has had roles in films by renowned directors such as Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Agnieszka Holland and Krzysztof Warlikowski to name but a few. Together with French actress Sophie Marceau, he hosted the 2006 European Film Awards Ceremony in Warsaw.

Danis Tanovic, Director/Screenwriter, Bosnia & Herzegovina
His film No Man's Land won the screenwriter award at EFA 2001, as well as 42 other awards worldwide, and brought the absurd reality of war to the conscience of people across the globe. He went on to make L'Enfer (2005), based on the script by Krzysztof Kies'lowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, and, most recently, Triage (2009), starring Colin Farrell, Paz Vega and Christopher Lee.

EFA Ambassadors Moritz Bleibtreu, Stephen Daldry, Johanna ter Steege and Maciej Stuhr will be among the guests at this year's European Film Awards Ceremony on 12 December in Bochum.

European Film Awards 2009 Nominations

At the Seville European Film Festival (6-15 November), the European Film Academy and EFA Productions announced the nominations for the 22nd European Film Awards. At the same time, the new EFA website went online.

The more-than 2,000 EFA members will now vote for the winners, which will be honoured during the awards ceremony on 12 December in Bochum, Germany. And the nominations are:

EUROPEAN FILM 2009

Fish Tank, UK. Written and directed by Andrea Arnold produced by Kees Kasander & Nick Laws.

Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One in), Sweden. Directed by Tomas Alfredson, written by John Ajvide Lindqvist produced by John Nordling and Carl Molinder.

Un prophète (A Prophet), France. Directed by Jacques Audiard
written by Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain, based on an original idea by Abdel Raouf Dafri after an original screenplay by Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit.
Produced by Chic Films, Page 114 and Why Not Productions.

The Reader (Der Vorleser), Germany, UK. Directed by Stephen Daldry, written by David Hare, produced by Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris.

Slumdog Millionaire, UK. Directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy produced by Christian Colson.

Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon), Germany, Austria, France, Italy. Written and directed by Michael Haneke, produced by Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz and Andrea Occhipinti.

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2009

Pedro Almodóvar for Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces)
Andrea Arnold for Fish Tank
Jacques Audiard for Un prophète (A Prophet)
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)
Lars von Trier for Antichrist

EUROPEAN ACTOR 2009

Moritz Bleibtreu in Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof
Complex)
Steve Evets in Looking for Eric
David Kross in The Reader (Der Vorleser)
Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire
Tahar Rahim in Un prophète (A Prophet)
Filippo Timi in Vincere

EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2009

Penélope Cruz in Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces)
Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist
Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank
Yolande Moreau in Sèraphine
Noomi Rapace in Män som Hatar Kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Kate Winslet in The Reader (Der Vorleser)

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2009

Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain for Un prophète (A Prophet)
Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire
Gianni di Gregorio for Pranzo di Ferragosto (Mid-August Lunch)
Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)

CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2009

Christian Berger for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)
Anthony Dod Mantle for Antichrist and Slumdog Millionaire
Maxim Drozdov and Alisher Khamidkhodzhaev for Bumazhny Soldat (Paper Soldier)
Stéphane Fontaine for Un prophète (A Prophet)

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY PRIX D'EXCELLENCE 2009

Francesca Calvelli for editing, Vincere
Catherine Leterrier for costume design, Coco Avant Chanel (Coco
Before Chanel)
Waldemar Pokromski for make-up and hair, Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex)
Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier, Jean-Paul Hurier and Marc Doisne for sound design, Un prophète (A Prophet)

EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2009

Alexandre Desplat for Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel)
Jakob Groth for Män som Hatar Kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Alberto Iglesias for Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces)
Johan Söderqvist for Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One in)

For information concerning all the EFA 2009 nominations, click here.

And, of course, your faithful reviwers will be providing their predictions as to the winners, ahead of the big night on 12 December. Keep it here!

European Film Awards 2009 Host: German Comedian Anke Engelke

When the 1,400 guests at the 22nd European Film Awards Ceremony take their seats at Bochum's legendary Jahrhunderthalle (Century Hall), a former gas power station of the steel mills, they will be welcomed by German comedy star Anke Engelke, the host of the evening. She is already renowned in the international film world as the regular host of the opening of the Berlin International Film Festival, and joining her on stage with her will be Bauhouse, pioneers of audiovisual arts, with an audio video performance that will mix video, film and music.

The evening's distinguished film guests will also include British director Ken Loach, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, and French actress Isabelle Huppert, who will receive the European Film Academy Achievement In World Cinema 2009 Award.

The script for the event has been developed by Nick Roddick, Markus Zimmer and Karsten Dusse. The set has been designed by Jürgen Schmidt-André. The European Film Awards Ceremony is produced by EFA Productions in co-operation with the German public broadcaster ZDF and the European culture channel ARTE. Producer is Marion Döring, Director of the EFA, executive producer is Jürgen Biesinger. The production is directed by Andreas Morell to be broadcast in a total of 44 territories.

The 22nd European Film Awards are presented by the European Film Academy and EFA Productions with the support of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 'Essen for the Ruhr', the Minister President and the Minister for Federal and European Affairs and the Media of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Filmstiftung NRW.

European Film Academy.