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Four Debut Films Nominated for European Discovery 2008

As part of the European Film Awards, the European Film Academy annually presents the award "European Discovery" to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film. This year's nominations were determined by a committee comprised of film journalists Dana Linssen (the Netherlands), Julia Teichmann (Germany) and Rui Tendinha (Portugal) — all of them members of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) — and EFA Board members Pierre-Henri Deleau (France) and Stefan Laudyn (Poland).

Nominated are:

Hunger, UK
directed by Steve McQueen
written by Enda Walsh & Steve McQueen

Snijeg (Snow), Bosnia and Herzegovina / Germany / France / Iran
directed by Aida Begić
written by Aida Begić and Elma Tataragić
www.mamafilm.ba

Tatil kitabi (Summer Book), Turkey
written and directed by Seyfi Teoman

Tulpan, Germany / Switzerland / Kazakhstan / Russia / Poland
directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy
written by Sergey Dvortsevoy and Gennady Ostrovskiy
www.the-match-factory.com/tulpan.html

Hunger is an interpretation of the highly emotive events surrounding the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike in the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, led by Bobby Sands. The film provides a timely exploration of what happens when body and mind are pushed to the uttermost limit and won the Camera d’Or Prize in Cannes.

Snijeg follows the survivors in the war-torn Bosnian village of Slavno. Living in an isolated world of their own, the first snow brings with it a risk for life in the village. The film received the Grand Prix at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique and was the opening film of this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival.

In Tatil kitabi, each member of a family in a provincial town tries to solve his/her personal crises as their daily lives flow by at their own slow pace throughout one long summer. The film was presented in the Berlinale Forum section, and received the award Best Turkish Film of the Year at the Istanbul International Film Festival.

In Tulpan, young Asa travels back to the Kazakh steppe after completing his naval service. To start his new life, he must get married and his only hope is Tulpan, the daughter of another shepherd family.  The film received the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

The nominated films will now be made available to all 1,800 members of the European Film Academy. They will vote for the winner who will be announced at the 21st European Film Awards on 6 December in Copenhagen.

Berlin/Munich, 29 September 2008

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