Six EFA Nominations for MDM-Funded Films

Three films co-funded by MDM (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung) ‑ "Martin Eden", "DAU. Natasha", and "Father (Otac)" ‑ have been nominated for a total of six European Film Awards (EFA). This was announced by the European Film Academy in Seville today, in the run-up to the European Film Festival.

The drama "Martin Eden", by Italian director Pietro Marcello, enters the competition for Best Film in what marks the 33rd edition of the event. For this film, which is a free adaptation of the eponymous Jack London novel, Marcello is additionally nominated for Best Director and furthermore, along with Maurizio Braucci, for Best Screenwriting. On top of this, lead actor Luca Marinelli, winner of the Coppa Volpi award for Best Actor at Venice in 2019, is now also a nominee for the Best Actor EFA.

In "Martin Eden", Marinelli plays the titular character, a destitute young sailor with a passion for reading, who falls in love with Elena Orsini (Jessica Cressy), a sophisticated young woman of the upper class. To measure up to her intellectually, he takes on an ambitious curriculum of self-study.

Another hopeful in the same category is Goran Bogdan, nominated for his performance in Srdan Golubovic’s drama "Father (Otac)", where he portrays the daily-wage earner Nikola, whose children are taken away from him by child protection services. In a quest for justice for himself and his family, he sets out on foot on a journey from his home in South Serbia all the way to the seat of government in Belgrade. "Father (Otac)" premiered earlier this year in the Panorama section of the 70th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.

Natasha Berezhnaya has been nominated for Best European Actress for her part as Natasha in "DAU. Natasha", an international co-production, co-funded by MDM and directed by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel. "DAU. Natasha" forms part of Ilya Khrzhanovskiy’s giant project "DAU", which tells stories inspired by the life of brilliant Soviet physicist and Nobel prize winner Lev Landau. That film equally premiered at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, in the Competition.

The winners of the EFA awards are chosen by over 3,800 members of the European Film Academy. Their picks will be announced during a series of virtual ceremonies held over the course of the week from December 8 to 12.

For more information, please contact Dr. Ulf Lepelmeier, head of Press and Public Relations (phone: +49 (0)341 2698714, email: Ulf.Lepelmeier@mdm-online.de).