European Film Awards 2024: THE SUBSTANCE Leads with the Most Nominations

The European Film Academy will crown the winner of the 37th European Film Awards on Saturday, December 7, 2024, in the picturesque city of Lucerne, Switzerland. This year´s selection spotlights an eclectic range of voices and stories from across the continent and beyond. 

The horror-com and modern reimagination of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Substance, leads with the most nominations across key categories, including European Film, European Screenwriter, and multiple technical awards. It has already secured victories in European Cinematography and European Visual Effects, showcasing its artistic and technical achievements.

Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard follows closely, with nominations for European Film, Best Director, and European Screenwriter, and has triumphed in European Editing, further highlighting its cinematic excellence. The Girl with the Needle also stands out with nominations in acting and screenwriting categories and multiple wins in arts and crafts, including European Production Design and Original Score.

The category of European Film has taken on new dimensions, with eligibility now extended to standout works from the European Documentary and European Animated Feature Film categories. This evolution underscores the Academy's recognition of the growing intersectionality of storytelling forms. Notable contenders include Mati Diop’s Dahomey, which examines colonial legacies, Jacques Audiard´s biopic Emilia Pérez, animated features like Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow and Kristina Dufková’s Living Large, Mohammad Rasoulof´s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, or Maura Delpero´s Vermiglio.

The nominated films are:

Bye Bye Tiberias – Lina Soualem

Dahomey – Mati Diop

Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard

Flow – Gints Zilbalodis

In Limbo – Alina Maksimenko

Living Large – Kristina Dufková

No Other Land – Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal

Savages– Claude Barras

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat – Johan Grimonprez

Sultana’s Dream  – Isabel Herguera

The Room Next Door – Pedro Almodóvar

The Seed of the Sacred Fig  – Mohammad Rasoulof

The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

They Shot the Piano Player – Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal

Vermiglio – Maura Delpero

The documentary category features a range of films addressing personal, historical, and political themes. Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias examines the experiences of Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass and her journey from her home village to Europe, exploring the impact on family relationships. Mati Diop’s Dahomey focuses on the return of royal treasures from France to Benin, examining the broader implications of cultural restitution and colonial history. Alina Maksimenko’s In Limbo provides a personal account of her experiences escaping the war in Ukraine, documenting the effects of conflict on individual lives. No Other Land, directed by Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Basel Adra, and Hamdan Ballal, portrays the challenges faced by Palestinian activists in their daily lives. Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’État combines music and history, revisiting a Cold War event where jazz was used as a tool for activism and exploring its role in decolonization.

The European Director category includes Andrea Arnold for Bird, a film exploring themes of human connection and resilience. Jacques Audiard is nominated for Emilia Pérez, a film that combines multiple genres to tell its story. Pedro Almodóvar is recognized for The Room Next Door, which examines memory and relationships. Mohammad Rasoulof is nominated for The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which addresses political and social issues. Maura Delpero is included for Vermiglio, a film that focuses on relationships and cultural identity.

Nominees in other categories:

European Actress

Renate Reinsve in Armand 

Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez

Trine Dyrholm in The Girl with the Needle

Vic Carmen Sonne in The Girl with the Needle

Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door

European Actor

Franz Rogowski in Bird

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave

Lars Eidinger in Dying

Daniel Craig in Queer

Abou Sangare in Souleymane’s Story

European Screenwriter

Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez

Magnus von Horn & Line Langebek for The Girl with the Needle

Pedro Almodóvar for The Room Next Door

Mohammad Rasoulof for The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Coralie Fargeat for The Substance

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI

Armand – Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Hoard – Luna Carmoon

Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt

Santosh – Sandhya Suri

The New Year that Never Came– Bogdan Mureșanu

Toxic – Saulė Bliuvaitė

The European Film Academy has already revealed the winners of this year’s Excellence Awards which honor the different arts and crafts.

European Cinematography

Benjamin Kračun for The Substance

European Editing

Juliette Welfling for Emilia Pérez

European Production Design

Jagna Dobesz for The Girl with the Needle

European Costume Design

Tanja Hausner for The Devil´s Bath

European Make-up & Hair

Evalotte Oosterop for When the Light Breaks

European Original Score

Frederikke Hoffmeier for The Girl with the Needle

European Sound

Marc-Olivier Brullé, Pierre Bariaud, Charlotte Butrak, Samuel Aïchoun & Rodrigo Diaz for Souleymane´s Story

European Visual Effects

Bryan Jones, Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky, Chervin Shafaghi & Guillaume Le Gouez for The Substance

The 37th European Film Awards on 7 December in Lucerne, Switzerland and can be watched on a livestream www.europeanfilmawards.eu.