‘Sentimental Value’ leads nominations for European Film Awards

Sentimental Value has emerged as the front-runner for the European Film Awards 2025, with five nominations.

The nominations for the main categories of this year’s awards, which take place on January 17 in Berlin, were announced this morning by the European Film Academy.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

Fifteen features compete for the best European film prize, following a recent rule change which means that films shortlisted for the best documentary and animation categories can also compete in the section.

Sentimental Value is nominated in the best European film category, as well as director for Joachim Trier, actress for Renate Reinsve, actor for Stellan Skarsgård, and screenwriter for Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier. The Cannes Grand Prix winner follows two sisters who reunite with their estranged father, a once-renowned director.

Sirat has four nominations: in the best European film category plus best director for Oliver Laxe, actor for Sergi López, and screenwriter for Santiago Fillol and Oliver Laxe. The film jointly won the Cannes’ jury prize and follows a father and son at a rave in the mountains of southern Morocco, looking for their daughter/sister. 

Other frontrunners this year include The Sound of Falling, which also jointly won the Cannes’ jury prize. It has three nominations for best film as well as Mascha Schilinski for director, and Schilinski and Louise Peter for screenwriter. Schilinski’s drama is set across a century on a remote German farm and depicts four women who are separated by time but united by trauma. 

Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident also has three nominations, including best film, director, and screenwriter for Panahi. The film is about a group of former political prisoners confronting the guard who they say once tortured them.

Rounding out the feature films within the main European Film section is Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, winner of the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at Venice. Based on real events, the docudrama depicts the response of the Palestinian Red Crescent to the calls of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car in Gaza City under fire from Israeli forces.

Two UK features are nominated: Akinola Davies’s UK-Nigeria co-production My Father’s Shadow and Laura Carreira’s UK-Portgual co-production On Falling, which are both shortlisted in the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI section.

European Film Awards nominations 2025

European film

Afternoons Of Solitude (Sp-Fr) – documentary film
Dir. Albert Serra
Prod. Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Pedro Palacios, Luís Ferrón, Ricard Sales & Pierre-Olivier Bardet

Arco (Fr) – animated film
Dir. Ugo Bienvenu
Prod. Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman & Ugo Bienvenu

Dog Of God (Dieva Suns) (Lat-US) – animated film
Dir. Raitis Ābele & Lauris Ābele
Prod. Raitis Ābele, Kristele Pudane & Giovanni Labadessa

Fiume O Morte! (Cro-Slov-It)_ – documentary film
Dir. Igor Bezinović
Prod. Vanja Jambrović, Tibor Keser, Erica Barbiani & Marina Gumzi

It Was Just An Accident (Fr-Iran-Lux) – fiction film
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Prod. Philippe Martin, Jafar Panahi, Christel Henon & Sandrine Dumas

Little Amelie (Fr) – animated film
Dir. Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han
Prod. Edwina Liard, Nidia Santiago & Henri Magalon

Olivia And The Invisible Earthquake (Sp-Fr-Bel-Switz-Chile) – animated film
Dir. Irene Iborra Rizo
Prod. Mikel Mas Bilbao, Ramón Alòs, Irene Iborra Rizo, Eduard Puertas Anfruns, Jean-François Le Corre, Mathieu Courtois, Hugo Deghilage, Vincent Tavier, Nicolas Burlet & Bernardita Ojeda

Riefenstahl (Ger) – documentary film
Dir. Andres Veiel
Prod. Enzo Maaß & Sandra Maischberger

Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) (Nor-Fr-Den-Ger-Swe) – fiction film
Dir. Joachim Trier
Prod. Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Juliette Schrameck, Nathanaël Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz, Fionnuala Jamison, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Lizette Jonjic, Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade, Atilla Salih Yücer & Lars Thomas Skare

Sirāt (Sp-Fr) – fiction film
Dir. Oliver Laxe
Prod. Domingo Corral, Oliver Laxe, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, Esther García, Oriol Maymó, Mani Mortazavi & Andrea Queralt 

Songs Of Slow Burning Earth (Ukr-Fr-Den-Swe) – documentary film
Dir. Olha Zhurba
Prod. Darya Bassel, Anne Köhncke & Kerstin Übelacker

Sound Of Falling (Ger) – fiction film
Dir. Mascha Schilinski
Prod. Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt & Lasse Scharpen

Tales From The Magic Garden (Cz-Slovakia-Slovenia-Fr) – animated film
Dir. David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar & Jean-Claude Rozec
Prod. Martin Vandas, Alena Vandasová, Juraj Krasnohorský, Henrieta Cvangová, Kolja Saksida, Jean-François Le Corre & Mathieu Courtois

The Voice Of Hind Rajab (Fr-Tun) – fiction film
Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
Prod. Nadim Cheikhrouha, Odessa Rae & James Wilson

With Hasan In Gaza (Ger) – documentary film
Dir. Kamal Aljafari
Prod. Kamal Aljafari & Flavia Mazzarino

European Documentary:
Afternoons Of Solitude (Sp-Fr)
Dir. Albert Serra

Fiume O Morte! (Cro-Slov-It)
Dir. Igor Bezinović

Riefenstahl (Ger)
Dir. Andres Veiel

Songs Of Slow Burning Earth (Ukr-Fr-Den-Swe)
Dir. Olha Zhurba

With Hasan In Gaza (Ger)
Dir. Kamal Aljafari

European Animated Feature Film:
Arco (Fr)
Dir. Ugo Bienvenu

Dog Of God (Dieva Suns) (Lat-US)
Dir. Raitis Ābele & Lauris Ābele

Little Amelie (Fr)
Dir. Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han

Olivia And The Invisible Earthquake (Sp-Fr-Bel-Switz-Chile)
Dir. Irene Iborra Rizo

Tales From The Magic Garden (Cz-Slovakia-Slovenia-Fr)
Dir. David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar & Jean-Claude Rozec

European Director:

Yorgos Lanthimos for Bugonia
Oliver Laxe for Sirāt
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just An Accident
Mascha Schilinski for Sound Of Falling
Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value 

European Actress:

Leonie Benesch in Late Shift
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in Duse
Léa Drucker in Case 137
Vicky Krieps in Love Me Tender
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value

European Actor:

Sergi López in Sirāt
Mads Mikkelsen in The Last Viking
Toni Servillo in La Grazia
Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value
Idan Weiss in Franz

European Screenwriter:

Santiago Fillol & Oliver Laxe for Sirāt
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just An Accident
Mascha Schilinski & Louise Peter for Sound Of Falling
Paolo Sorrentino for La Grazia
Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI:

Little Trouble Girls (Slovenia-It-Cro-Ser)
Dir. Urška Djukić

My Father’s Shadow (UK-Nigeria
Dir. Akinola Davies Jr

On Falling (UK-Port)
Dir. Laura Carreira

One Of Those Days When Hemme Dies (Turkey-Ger)
Dir. Murat Fıratoğlu

Sauna (Den)
Dir. Mathias Broe

Under The Grey Sky (Poland)
Dir. Mara Tamkovich

European Young Audience Award:

Arco (Fr)
Dir. Ugo Bienvenu

I Accidentally Wrote A Book (Hungary-Neth)
Dir. Nóra Lakos

Siblings (It)
Dir. Greta Scarano