Eightfilms will compete for the 2003 Prix Screen International, the European Film Academy's award for bestnon-European film.

TheEFA award, whose selection and nomination procedure is made in co-operationwith Screen International, seessamurai sword epics from two continents take on a diverse field that includes ablockbusting animation and some of the most acclaimed films to have emergedfrom this year's international festival circuit.

Nominateddirectors range from old hands such as Clint Eastwood and Denys Arcand torelative newcomers such as Sofia Coppola, Korea's Kim Ki-Duk and Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu whose work this year has trulyfulfilled their early filmmaking promise.

Thoseeight films nominated for the 2003 Prix Screen International are:

21 Grams (US)
Dir: Alejandro GonzalezInarritu

The Barbarian Invasions (Canada)
Dir: Denys Arcand

Finding Nemo (US)
Dirs: Andrew Stanton& Lee Unkrich

Kill Bill - Volume 1 (US)
Dir: Quentin Tarantino

Lost in Translation (US)
Dir: Sofia Coppola

Mystic River (US)
Dir: Clint Eastwood

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring (Korea)
Dir: Kim Ki-Duk

Zatoichi (Japan)
Dir: Takeshi Kitano

Thewinner will be announced as part of the 16th European Film Awardsceremony to be staged on December 6 at the Arena in Berlin.

Thenominees for the 15 other EFA Award categories, including those for Best Film, BestDirector, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Cinematographer and Best Scriptwriter,will be announced tomorrow (Friday) once the votes have been counted up fromthe 1,600 Academy members.

Morethan 360 European films were originally submitted for consideration by variousorganisations, film magazines, film industry associations, festivals, Academymembers and producers from all over Europe. From these 360 films, the board ofthe European Film Academy recommended 43 as candidates for nomination.

Asin previous years, the Awards gala will be produced by DDA Productions andbroadcast throughout Europe and across the US, Latin America, Australia andAsia.

TheAwards are backed by Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, theFilmfurderungsanstalt, the German National Lottery, the German State Ministerfor Culture and Media and the MEDIA-Programme of the EU as well as by sponsorsJameson Irish Whiskey, TNT, Toronto Stock Exchange, UIP and UK Film Council.