The European Film Awards (EFA) nominations were announced earlier today, and I have some housekeeping items because of it. We learned that the technical category winners will be announced November 23 ahead of the awards gala on December 10. This means the technical categories will count in Matchup #1. They do not nominate these, so each winner announced on November 23 will earn four points. The rest of the winners will be announced on December 10, which is in Matchup #2. Those winners (including Best Comedy and Best Animated) will all receive two points.
Now on to any insights…
Paul Mescal only nominee from Aftersun
After strong showings everywhere else thus far, Charlotte Wells was snubbed out of the directing and writing categories while Aftersun was snubbed for Best European Film. I’ve mentioned before, multiple times, that Charlotte Wells and Aftersun need to be priority waiver adds everywhere. I’m not necessarily tempering my enthusiasm based on its underwhelming performance at EFA’s, especially because Charlotte Wells’s value is being a solid breakthrough candidate at the awards that have that as a category. If anything, I’m getting more excited about Paul Mescal as a waiver wire add, if he’s available in your league. We’ve seen before that early season success could plateau quickly, but Mescal’s four nominations so far (three for Aftersun and a bonus one for God’s Creatures) is enough for him to lead all actors and actresses thus far. I feel like Mescal is this year’s Simon Rex (Red Rocket). If somehow Paul Mescal gets a Satellite Award nomination, it will absolutely be the last call on a solid sleeper actor.
It’s also worth noting that Mescal’s co-star, Frankie Corio, is second in acting points.
All Quiet on the Western Front snubbed
Germany’s official submission, based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel which was also the source material for 1930’s Academy Award for Best Picture, was shut out of all categories. It “should” win something on November 23, but missing in the above-the-line categories spells trouble. The biggest bump to an International film because of this snub? I would argue Decision to Leave. Yes, of course, Decision to Leave is from South Korea and not Europe, but hear me out. The only International films that have two nominations so far that were also their respective country’s official Oscar submission are Decision to Leave (South Korea), Corsage (Austria), Close (Belgium), and Winners (United Kingdom.) With other films like Holy Spider (Denmark), Saint Omer (France), Alcarràs (Spain), Bardo (Mexico), and even EO (Poland), it’s not a stretch to see All Quiet on the Western Front not make the Oscar shortlist, let alone be an Oscar nominee.
Ignore the Docs and Animated
Even if you KNOW which doc and animated feature will win, that’s only guaranteeing you 2 points in Matchup #2. I have high doubts any of these nominees will get significant points beyond that.
Don’t forget Ruben Östlund has EDIT eligibility
Maybe now’s the time just to set Ruben Östlund in your EDIT starting slot and forget it.
Zar Amir-Ebrahimi is worth putting on your mental watchlist
I’m not jumping on the waiver wire just yet, but I’ve seen her name floating around some buzzworthy sites.
Next announcement is the International Documentary Association (IDA) nominations, which will hopefully clear up the documentary race a little bit, but I highly doubt it. It’s more likely it muddies it up…
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