Paweł Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland', a film centred on the relationship between writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika, leads the nominations for the 39th European Film Awards with 11 nominations. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's 'La Bola Negra', a triptych about the history of gay men's sexuality, follows closely with ten nominations. Both films shared the best director prize at Cannes.

The European Film Academy announced the nominations on Saturday at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece, based on the votes of its 5,700 members. The awards will be presented on January 16 in Athens, with the ceremony taking place in Greece in January 2027 according to the announcement. Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner 'Fjord' received five nominations, placing third, while Markus Schleinzer's 'Rose' took four.S1S2

In the best director category Pawlikowski, Calvo and Ambrossi, and Mungiu compete alongside Sandra Wollner for 'Everytime' and Andrey Zvyagintsev for 'Minotaur', the winner of Cannes' Grand Prix. Sandra Hüller is nominated for both 'Fatherland' and 'Rose' in the best actress category, where she faces Penélope Cruz for 'Bunker', Léa Seydoux for 'Gentle Monster', Renate Reinsve for 'Fjord' and Mathilde Arcel for 'Woman Unknown', the Venice best actress winner.S2

Best actor nominees are Javier Bardem for 'The Beloved', Andrew Scott for 'Elsinore', Sebastian Stan for 'Fjord', Swann Arlaud for 'A Man of His Time' and Hanns Zischler for 'Fatherland'. May el-Toukhy's 'Woman Unknown', which won Venice's Golden Lion, received three nominations, while 'Bunker', 'Coward', 'Elsinore', 'Everytime' and 'Minotaur' each received two.S2

The best documentary nominees include 'NAZA', winner of the Special Jury Prize in Venice, and 'Rehearsals for a Revolution', which won best documentary at Cannes, alongside 'Letters From the Silenced Country', 'To Hold a Mountain' and 'Whispers in the Woods'. The animated nominees are 'Viva Carmen', 'Lucy Lost', 'Jim Queen', 'Iron Boy' and 'In Waves'.S2