‘Fallen Leaves,’ ‘Io Capitano,’ ‘Lost Country’ Compete for Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films

variety.com:

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor European Film Promotion and the Arab Cinema Center have revealed the final three nominees for the fifth edition of the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films after the jury viewed 25 films from as many European countries in the shortlist.

Due to the postponement of this year’s edition of the Cairo Film Festival, which hosted the awards ceremony in previous years, the announcement of the winning film will take place during the sixth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, which is scheduled to run from Dec.

14-21. The nominated films are Serbia’s “Lost Country” by Vladimir Perišić — winner of the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the best actor award at the Sarajevo Film Festival; Finland’s “Fallen Leaves” by Aki Kaurismäki — winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival; and Italy’s “Io Capitano” by Matteo Garrone — winner of four awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the Silver Lion Award for best director, La Pellicola d’Oro Award for production design, and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best rising actor.

In a joint statement, executive director and co-founder of the El Gouna Film Festival Amr Mansi, and film critic and El Gouna festival programmer Andrew Mohsen said: “With ‘Fallen Leaves,’ the multi-award-winning master of Finnish cinema Aki Kaurismäki decided to write a story about the themes through which humanity might have a future: the longing for love, solidarity, hope, and respect for other people, nature and anything living or dead.” The tragicomedy is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class trilogy (“Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory Girl”).