The European Film Academy has announced the 42 finalistsselected to compete for this year's 17th edition of the European Film Awards,to be celebrated on December 11 in Barcelona.

Among thetitles are international festival favourites and local box office hits such as BadEducation, Ae Fond Kiss, 5 x 2, The Sea Inside, Being Julia, Take My Eyes, TheGirl With A Pearl Earring, Les Choristes, Love Actually and Head On (seefull list below).

"This listreflects very well how rich our cinema is," said Academy director MarionDoring, who together with Academy president Humbert Balsan unveiled the listand the latest details for the ceremony on Monday at Spain's San SebastianInternational Film Festival.

The 42finalists competing in 17 categories, including the newly-created best composercategory, were chosen from 400 submissions.

Theofficial nominations selected by the 1,600 members of the Academy will beannounced on November 11 in Barcelona, exactly one month before the ceremony.

As inprevious years, the awards gala will be produced by DDA Productions. SpaniardManuel Huerga, responsible for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1992Barcelona Olympics, will direct the gala.

Theweekend of events in Barcelona will also include a Co-Production Forum (Dec10), the Academy's general assembly, a conference focusing on European actors,the presentation of Shooting Stars and a tribute to director Carlos Saura, thefirst Spaniard ever to receive the EFA honour.

"We havehad more demand from people wanting to come to Barcelona than any other city,"said Balsan, adding that the production aims to repeat the successful formulaof last year's Berlin edition.

Full list of EFA finalists:

5 x 2 (Five Times Two), France
directed by François Ozon
produced by Fidelite /France 2 Cinema /FOZ
Ae Fond Kiss, UK
directed by Ken Loach
produced by Sixteen Films /Bianca Films /EMC /Tornasol Films
Agnes And His Brothers, Germany
directed by Oskar Roehler
produced by X Filme Creative Pool GmbH /WDR /BR /ARTE
Avanim, France/Israel
directed by Raphael Nadjari
produced by Transfax Film Production /BVNG
Just Bea, Norway
directed by Petter Næss
produced by Maipo Film & TV Produksjon AS /Filmlance AB
Being Julia, UK/Hungary/Canada
directed by István Szabo
produced by Serendipity Point Films /ISL Films /Myriad
Free Radicals, Austria/Germany/Switzerland
directed by Barbara Albert
produced by Coop 99 Filmproduktion /Zero Film Südwest /Fama Film
Singing Behind Screens, Italy
directed by Ermanno Olmi
produced by Cinema 11 /RAI Cinema /Lakeshore Entertainment /Pierre GriseProductions
Caterina In The Big City Italy
directed by Paolo Virzì
produced by Cattleya /RAI Cinema
Code 46, UK
directed by Michael Winterbottom
produced by Revolution Films Ltd.
Look At Me France
directed by Agnès Jaoui
produced by Les Films A4 /France 2 /Canal + /Eyescreen
The Alzheimer Case Belgium
directed by Erik van Looy
produced by MMG /TV 1 /TROS /Bridge Entertainment Group
The Edukators, Germany/Austria
directed by Hans Weingartner
produced by y3 Film Hans Weingartner Filmproduktion /Coop 99 Filmproduktion
After Midnight Italy
directed by Davide Ferrario
produced by Rossofuoco SAS
The 7th Day, Spain/France
directed by Carlos Saura
produced by Lolafilms S.A. /Artedis
In The City, Spain
directed by Cesc Gay
produced by Messidor Films S.L.
Head-On Germany
directed by Fatih Akin
produced by Wüste Filmproduktion /Corazon International /NDR /ARTE
Girl With A Pearl Earring, UK/Luxembourg
directed by Peter Webber
produced by Archer Street /Delux Productions
Hector, Spain
directed by Gracia Querejeta
produced by Elias Querejeta P.C.S.L. /Ensueño Films /Dea Planeta
South The Netherlands
directed by Martin Koolhoven
produced by Isabella Films /Cosmokino /Zentropa Entertainments5
Honey Baby, Germany/Finland/Latvia/Russia
directed by Mika Kaurismäki
produced by Stamina Media GmbH /Marianna Films Oy /Eho Filma /Kino Slovo/Twentytwenty Vision GmbH
Immortal, France
directed by Enki Bilal
produced by Telema /TF1 Films Production /Ciby 2000 /RF2K /Force MajeureProductions /Medusa Films
A Bride Of The Seventh Heaven, Finland
directed by Anastasia Lapsui & Markku Lehmuskallio
produced by Millennium Film /YLE /TV1 The Finnish Broadcasting Company
Kontroll, Hungary
directed by Nimròd Antal
produced by Cafè Film /Bonfire Produkciò
Bad Education, Spain
directed by Pedro Almodovar
produced by El Deseo D.A., S.L.U.
Aftermath, Denmark
directed by Paprika Steen
produced by Nordisk Film
The House Keys Italy/France/Germany
directed by Gianni Amelio
produced by Rai Cinema /Enzo Porcelli for Achab Film /Arena Films /Pola PandoraProduktion
The Consequences Of Love, Italy
directed by Paolo Sorrentino
produced by Fandango /Indigo Film
Les Choristes / The Chorus France/Switzerland
directed by Christophe Barratier
produced by Galatee Films /Pathe Renn Production /France 2 Cinema /Novo ArturoFilms /Vega Film AG
Love Actually, UK
directed by Richard Curtis
produced by Working Title /DNA Films
The Sea Inside, Spain/France/Italy
directed by Alejandro Amenábar
produced by Sogecine /Himenoptero /UGC /Eyescreen
My Stepbrother Frankenstein, Russia
directed by Valery Todorovsky
produced by Racoon TV /Prior-Premier
Niceland Iceland/Germany/Denmark/UK
directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
produced by Zik Zak Filmworks /Nimbus Film /Tradewind Pictures /Film &Music Entertainment
Don't Move Italy
directed by Sergio Castellitto
produced by Cattleya /Medusa Film /Alquimia /The Producers Films (Don't Move)
Notre Musique France/Switzerland
directed by Jean-Luc Godard
produced by Vega Film AG /Avventura Films /Peripheria /France 3 Cinema /CanalPlus /TSR /DF1
The Witnesses Croatia
directed by Vinko Bresan
produced by Interfilm Produkcija /HRT
Our Own Russia
directed by Dmitriy Meskhiev
produced by Slovo
Take My Eyes Spain
directed by Iciar Bollain
produced by La Iguana /Alta Produccion
The Last Soviet Movie Latvia
directed by Aleksandrs Petukhovs
produced by Visio Studija
Trilogy - The Weeping Meadow, Greece
directed by Theo Angelopoulos
produced by Greek Film Centre /Attica Art Productions /Hellenic BroadcastingCorporation ERT S.A., BAC Films S.A. /Intermedias S.A. /Arte France
Love In Thoughts Germany
directed by Achim von Borries
produced by X Filme Creative Pool GmbH /ZDF /Arte
Zelary, Czech Republic
directed by Ondřej Trojan
produced by Total HelpArt T.H.A. /Barrandov Studios /Czech TV /Dor Film /ALEFFilm and Media Group