Get ready for some serious award season buzz! The 2026 European Film Awards shortlist has just been unveiled, and it's packed with some of the year's most talked-about films. From the critically acclaimed Bugonia, starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, to the heart-wrenching Sentimental Value with Renate Reinsve, these movies are sure to leave a lasting impression. But here's where it gets controversial... the shortlist also includes international features like It Was Just an Accident and The Voice of Hind Rajab, sparking debates about representation and global cinema. And this is the part most people miss: the European Film Academy has strategically moved its awards ceremony to early January, ahead of the BAFTAs and Oscars, to ensure that the EFAs become the first platform to celebrate the best of European cinema. So, get your popcorn ready and dive into the full EFA shortlist below!
Feature Films:
- Bearcave (Arkoudotrypa) - Krysianna B. Papadakis & Stergios Dinopoulos (Greece, UK)
- Bugonia - Yorgos Lanthimos (UK, USA, South Korea)
- Case 137 (Dossier 137) - Dominik Moll (France)
- Christy - Brendan Canty (Ireland, UK)
- Deaf (Sorda) - Eva Libertad (Spain)
- Die My Love - Lynne Ramsay (UK, USA, Canada)
- Dreams (Drømmer) - Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)
- Duse - Pietro Marcello (Italy, France)
- Father (Otec) - Tereza Nvotová (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland)
- Franz - Agnieszka Holland (Czech Republic, Germany, Poland)
- Fuori - Mario Martone (Italy, France)
- I Only Rest in the Storm (O Riso e a Faca) - Pedro Pinho (Portugal, France, Brazil, Romania)
- It Was Just an Accident (Un simple accident) - Jafar Panahi (France, Iran, Luxembourg)
- La Grazia - Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
- Late Shift (Heldin) - Petra Volpe (Switzerland, Germany)
- Little Trouble Girls (Kaj ti je deklica) - Urška Djukić (Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Serbia)
- Love Me Tender - Anna Cazenave Cambet (France)
- Loveable (Elskling) - Lilja Ingolfsdottir (Norway)
- Maspalomas - Jose Mari Goenaga & Aitor Arregi (Spain)
- Milk Teeth (Dinti de lapte) - Mihai Mincan (Romania, France, Denmark, Greece, Bulgaria)
- Mirrors No. 3 (Miroirs No. 3) - Christian Petzold (Germany)
- Mother - Teona Strugar Mitevska (North Macedonia, Belgium)
- On Falling - Laura Carreira (UK, Portugal)
- Once Upon a Time in Gaza - Tarzan Nasser & Arab Nasser (France, Palestine, Germany, Portugal, Qatar, Jordan)
- One of Those Days When Hemme Dies (Hemme’nin öldüğü günlerden biri) - Murat Fıratoğlu (Turkey, Germany)
- Palestine 36 - Annemarie Jacir (Palestine, UK, France, Denmark, Norway)
- Pillion - Harry Lighton (UK)
- Romeria (Romería) - Carla Simón (Spain, Germany)
- Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) - Joachim Trier (Norway, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden)
- Silent Friend - Ildikó Enyedi (Germany, France, Hungary)
- Sirat (Sirât) - Oliver Laxe (Spain, France)
- Sleepless City (Ciudad sin sueño) - Guillermo Galoe (Spain, France)
- Sound of Falling (In die Sonne schauen) - Mascha Schilinski (Germany)
- Sundays (Los domingos) - Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Spain)
- The Last Viking (Den sidste viking) - Anders Thomas Jensen (Denmark, Sweden)
- The Little Sister (La petite dernière) - Hafsia Herzi (France, Germany)
- The Love That Remains (Ástin sem eftir er) - Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, France)
- The North - Bart Schrijver (Netherlands)
- The Stranger (L’Étranger) - François Ozon (France)
- The Voice of Hind Rajab - Kaouther Ben Hania (France, Tunisia)
- Two Prosecutors - Sergei Loznitsa (France, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania)
- What Marielle Knows (Was Marielle Weiss) - Frédéric Hambalek (Germany)
- Yes (Ken) - Nadav Lapid (France, Israel, Cyprus, Germany)
- Young Mothers (Jeunes mères) - Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (Belgium, France)
Documentary Films:
- Afternoons of Solitude (Tardes de soledad) - Albert Serra (Spain, France)
- An American Pastoral (Une pastorale americaine) - Auberi Edler (France)
- Ancestral Visions of the Future - Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (France, Lesotho, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
- Fiume o morte! - Igor Bezinović (Croatia, Slovenia, Italy)
- Flophouse America - Monica Strømdahl (Norway, Netherlands, USA)
- Good Valley Stories (Historias del buen valle) - José Luis Guerin (Spain, France)
- Hair, Paper, Water… (Tóc, giấy và nước…) - Nicolas Graux & Minh Quý Trương (Belgium, France, Vietnam)
- Listen to the Voices (Kouté vwa) - Maxime Jean-Baptiste (Belgium, France)
- Memory - Vladlena Sandu (France, Netherlands)
- Militantropos - Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova & Simon Mozgovyi (Ukraine, Austria, France)
- Riefenstahl - Andres Veiel (Germany)
- Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Pisni zemli shscho povolno horyt) - Olha Zhurba (Ukraine, France, Denmark, Sweden)
- The Shards (Oskolky) - Masha Chernaya (Georgia, Germany)
- Twst / Things We Said Today - Andrei Ujică (France, Romania)
- With Hasan in Gaza - Kamal Aljafari (Germany)
Animated Feature Films:
- Arco - Ugo Bienvenu (France)
- Balentes - Giovanni Columbu (Italy, Germany)
- Checkered Ninja 3 (Ternet Ninja 3) - Anders Matthesen & Thorbjørn Christoffersen (Denmark)
- Dandelion’s Odyssey (Planetes) - Momoko Seto (France)
- Dog of God (Dieva Suns) - Raitis Abele & Lauris Abele (Latvia, USA)
- Little Amelie (Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes) - Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han (France)
- Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake (L’Olívia i el terratrèmol invisible) - Irene Iborra Rizo (Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Chile)
- Tales from the Magic Garden (Pohádky po babičce) - David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar & Jean-Claude Rozec (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, France)
