Ice Mother by Bohdan Sláma, The Teacher by Jan Hřebejk, Spoor by Agnieszka Holland and The Constitution by Rajko Grlić have been included among the 51 films in this year’s EFA Feature Film Selection, the list of feature fiction films recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards 2017.
Bohdan Sláma’s drama-comedy ICE MOTHER (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France/ 106 min) already won the prize for Best Screenplay at the 16th Tribeca Film Festival. Over the years, Sláma received a number of awards at home and abroad, including the Golden Shell for best Film at San Sebastian IFF, multiple Czech Film Academy awards and a nomination for The People’s Choice Award at EFA 2006 for Something Like Happines (2005). Ice Mother was written and directed by Bohdan Sláma, produced by Pavel Strnad and Petr Oukropec (Negativ).
THE TEACHER (Slovakia, Czech Republic/ 103 min) directed by Jan Hřebejk, premiered at Karlovy Vary IFF in 2016, where Zuzana Mauréry was named Best Actress. The Teacher has been one of the most internationally successful Czech films last year and screened at many festivals, including Trieste, Sofia, Hong Kong and Sydney IFF. The film has also been sold to several international markets, including Italy and the US. Hřebejk’s earlier film Kawasaki’s Rose succesfully premiered at Berlinale’s Panorama section (2010), where it won both, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the C.I.C.A.E. Award, while Divided We Fall (nominated for Oscar in 2001) and Up and Down remain his most awarded features.
The Teacher was written by Petr Jarchovský, produced by Zuzana Mistríková, Ľubica Orechovská, along with Ondřej Zima and Jan Prušinovský (Offside Men) in the Czech Republic..
SPOOR (Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia/ 128 min) by the renowned Agnieszka Holland, won the Silver Bear at Berlinale 2017 and was nominated for the Golden Bear. The Oscar nominated Polish director has received a number of awards during her long international career, including two nominations for the Golden Lion at Venice IFF (for Julie Walking Home, 2002 and Olivier, Olivier, 1992), the Golden Globe and a nomination for the American Academy Award for Europe, Europe (1992), the CEC Award for Best Film at San Sebastian IFF for Copying Beethoven (2006), and many more.
Spoor was written by Olga Tokarczuk and Agnieszka Holland, produced by Krzysztof Zanussi, Janusz Wąchała, Johannes Rexin, by Pavla Janoušková Kubečková and Tomáš Hrubý (nutprodukce) in the Czech Republic, along with Fredrik Zander and Jakub Viktorín.
THE CONSTITUTION (Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, FYR Macedonia/ 93 min) by Croatian director Rajko Grlić depist a story of four people who live in the same building but who lead very different lives, because of what they believe in and where they come from. Rajko Grlić was nominated for the Palme d'Or for Bravo Maestro (1978) and for the Golden Seashell for The Border Post (2006). He won Best Director Award at Karlovy Vary IFF for Just Between Us (2010).
The Constitution was written by Ante Tomić and Rajko Grlić, produced by Ivan Maloča, Mike Downey, by Rudolf Biermann (INfilm Praha) in the Czech Republic, along with Maja Vukić, Dejan Miloševski, Jani Sever, and Sam Taylor.
The nominations for the European Film Awards will be announced on November 4 at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain. A seven-member jury will decide on the awards recipients in the categories European Cinematographer, Editor, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Hair & Make-up Artist, Composer, and Sound Designer. The 30th European Film Awards ceremony with the presentation of the winners will take place on December 9 in Berlin. For more information on the films and a complete list of the award categories visit www.europeanfilmawards.eu.
