PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD 2014

Philomena, by Stephen Frears

The European Film Academy's (EFA) People’s Choice Award enables film fans across Europe to elect their favourite film. Whereas the EFA invites Europe’s greatest film stars, directors, actors and actresses, to attend the annual European Film Awards, the People’s Choice Award sheds a spotlight on the audience's choice of films. 

The voting for this year’s award has started, with a chance to join winners and nominees for the awards ceremony in Riga!

Winners in the past have included films such as Pedro Almodóvar’s VOLVER, Roberto Benigni’s LA VITA E BELLA, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s AMÉLIE, Fatih Akin’s HEAD-ON, and Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. In 2013, the EFA People's Choice Award went to THE GILDED CAGE by Ruben Alves .

Film fans can cast their vote on the official website and possibly win a trip to the 27th European Film Awards on Saturday, 13 December 2014, in Riga, European Capital of Culture 2014.

Nominated films

BEAUTY AND THE BEASTLA BELLE ET LA BÊTE

DIRECTED BY: Christophe Gans
WRITTEN BY : Christophe Gans & Sandra Vo-Anh
MAIN CAST: Vincent Cassel, Lea Seydoux, André Dussolier

IDA
DIRECTED BY: Pawel Pawlikowski
WRITTEN BY: Pawel Pawlikowski & Rebecca Linkiewicz
MAIN CAST: Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik, Jerzy Trela 

NYMPHOMANIAC
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Lars von Trier
MAIN CAST: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf

PHILOMENA (photo)
DIRECTED BY: Stephen Frears
WRITTEN BY: Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope
MAIN CAST: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark

THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED HUNDRAÅRINGEN SOM KLEV UT GENOM FÖNSTRET OCH FÖRSVANN

DIRECTED BY: Felix Herngren
WRITTEN BY: Felix Herngren (screenplay), Hans Ingemansson (screenplay), Jonas Jonasson (novel)
MAIN CAST: Robert Gustafsson, Mia Skäringer, Alan Ford

TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
MAIN CAST: Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione

The winner of the EFA People’s Choice Award 2014 will be announced on stage during the European Film Awards Ceremony on 13 December in Riga.

Antichrist sweeps Danish awards

Lars von Trier’s "Antichrist" swept the boards at the Bodil Awards ceremony, organised by the Danish Film Critics Association. The film that caused such uproar at Cannes 2009 was also the most celebrated by the entire Danish film industry. It had already won seven Roberts awards from the Danish Film Academy last month.

"Antichrist" won five Bodils:
Best Danish Film
Best Actress (Charlotte Gainsbourg)
Best Actor (Willem Dafoe)
Best Cinematographer (Anthony Dod Mantle)
Best Sound Design (Kristian Eidne Andersen).

The danger of "the scene"

It's always exciting when a new scene is discovered in a country. Whether it be Taiwan, the UK, Czech Republic or Denmark, media and the industry just love to be able to bunch films together by style. The stark reality of Belgium and the kitchen sink dramas of the UK are just two examples. Over the past few years, Denmark has been the source of interesting films that manage to find commercial audiences. The figures for domestic films are remarkable: in the first six months of 2007, over 1.8 million tickets were sold - one half million more than the same time last year - and fully one-third of those were for Danish films.

But the inevitable downside of a scene is the almost irresistible temptation to apply a formula. An awful lot of money is involved, so why not hedge your bets by following previous successes? In an article in the Copenhagen Post, Claus Ladegaard of the Danish Film Institute, said the Danish industry was definitely in a crisis and may have rested too heavily on its earlier laurels. ‘We probably should have looked more critically at our own success a bit sooner,’ he said. ‘Often, as soon as someone discovers a particular way to make a film successful, others follow and then movies start resembling one another.’

It's a danger that exists already at the writing stage. All the writers with a few pages of sub-"Pulp Fiction" know what I'm talking about. But trying to second guess what producers and audiences will like is dangerous. The throughput time from paper to screen is so long that whatever trend was discernible will be totally outdated by the time it would take to write and shoot it.

For more about the Danish hangover, check the Copenhagen Post. For news about Danish film, visit the Danish Film Institute.

Anders Thomas Jensen picks up Nordisk award

If this goes on, we'll be calling him Citizen Jensen. Denmark's Anders Thomas Jensen picked up the DKK 99,000 Nordisk Award for major contributions to Danish film last Friday. The 33 year-old's third feature as a writer/director, Adam’s Apples is the Danish entry at the upcoming Academy Awards nominations and one of his two scripts – with Susanne Bier’s Brothers - is nominated at this year’s European Film Awards (see below). According to Cineuropa, Jensen currently represents some 40% of Denmark's film output as either a writer or director.

His latest script, "Explosive Bomb", is to be directed by Thomas Villum Jensen for a 2006 release.

Why are Danish films so good?

It might be a bit over-the-top as a title, but the discussion itself should be interesting. The Script Factory, NFTS and Curzon Cinemas are bringing a Dogme round table (billed as a masterclass) to London on April 20. "Writer/Directors Susanne Bier (Open Hearts, Brothers) and Anders Thomas Jensen (whose writing credits include The King Is Alive, Mifune, Open Hearts, Brothers, and who also directs), will be joined on stage by Kristian Levring (who co-wrote and directed The King Is Alive and is one of the four Dogme Brethren), to take a closer look at the Dogme screenplay. Considering the process of story development, the art of screenplay collaboration, and the constraints or liberations of writing material which is destined to be produced in such a particular style, this lively session with three of the Dogme greats will also look to the future and consider the influence of Dogme screenwriting methods on these filmmakers’ post-Dogme work."

Wednesday 20 April at 6pm
Curzon Soho, Shaftsbury Avenue, London W1 or check the details here.

"The King is Alive" on Amazon UK