The European Film Academy announced the five animated feature nominees for the 39th European Film Awards (EFA) on November 14, 2026, revealing the competitive slate during the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. French animation studios hold a production stake in every nominated feature, while Belgian companies co-produced three of the selected titles alongside French partners [1]. Winners will receive their honors on January 16, 2027, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens. Broadcasters will stream the ceremony live [2].
Five Animated Feature Contenders
Independent animation studios secured all five nomination spots in the European Animation Film category [1]. Director Phuong Mai Nguyen earned a nomination for In Waves, an adaptation produced by Priscilla Bertin, Judith Nora, and Nick Shumaker. Louis Clichy entered the list with Iron Boy (Le Corset), which Nicolas de Rosanbo and Céline Vanlint produced through French and Belgian backing, while Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané picked up a nomination for Jim Queen under producers Arthur Delabays and David Alric [2].
Olivier Clert joined the lineup with Lucy Lost, which producer Marc Du Pontavice and Lucie Bolze guided through French studio backing. Sébastien Laudenbach completed the animated feature slate with Viva Carmen (Carmen, l’oiseau rebelle), produced by Damien Brunner, Sarah Delmas, Thibaut Ruby, and Pierre-Henri Léon [2]. The European Animation Film category is organized in partnership with Cartoon, the European Association for Animation Film. The organization coordinates major industry gatherings throughout the year, including Cartoon Movie, Cartoon Forum, Cartoon Springboard, Cartoon Next, and Cartoon Business. These events help independent European filmmakers pitch projects, assemble international co-productions, and secure distribution agreements long before awards voting begins. Five titles reached the final ballot [1].
Under voting regulations introduced in 2024, all five animated feature contenders automatically compete for the main European Film prize against live-action fiction and documentary nominees [1]. The combined category holds fifteen total nominees from nineteen European countries. Six of those fifteen films were directed or co-directed by women, representing 40 percent of the overall lineup. The animation nominees contend against high-profile fiction works including Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, which earned eleven nominations, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra with ten nods, and Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord with five nominations [2].
Selection for the European Film Awards Longlist
French creative teams participated in all five animated feature nominees. Studios in France developed distinct projects ranging from graphic novel adaptations to reinterpreted classics. Three of the nominated productions relied on Belgian co-producers to complete financing, split technical tasks, and hire animation crews across neighboring production hubs [1].
The final ballot emerged from an earlier longlist that the European Film Academy published on October 14, 2026. The preliminary selection gathered 68 feature films from 40 European countries, dividing the competitive field into 45 fiction films, 15 documentaries, and eight animated projects that explored pressing cultural themes and distinct artistic styles. Women directed or co-directed 25 of the 68 shortlisted features, reflecting Academy diversity standards across member territories. A selection committee made up of Academy board members and invited animation experts evaluated the eight animation titles before choosing the final five nominees. The procedure gave animated works a direct route through specialized festival committees before general members cast their votes [3].
The strong presence of French and Belgian studios contrasts with the 38th ceremony, when animators from Central and Eastern Europe gained major nomination spots [6]. The 2026 ballot featured the Latvian and American co-production Dog of God by Raitis Ābele and Lauris Ābele, depicting an 80-year-old werewolf in seventeenth-century Livonia. That cycle also included Tales from the Magic Garden, a stop-motion film directed by David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, and Jean-Claude Rozec across the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and France [5].
American Theatrical Releases
Two of the nominated animated features have secured theatrical distribution in the United States. American distributor Magnolia Pictures acquired Jim Queen, an adult comedy set in the nightlife of Paris, scheduling an English-language theatrical release for next summer. The acquisition provides the French-Belgian co-production with theatrical distribution across North American cinemas [1].
Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy also gained international momentum after earning festival recognition, taking home prizes at Cannes and Annecy. In addition to its animated feature nod, the film is competing for the European Young Audience Award [1]. The animated title contends against two live-action dramas: Myrsini Aristidou’s Hold Onto Me, produced by Cyprus, Greece, and Denmark, and Alina Șerban’s I Matter, backed by Romania, Germany, and Belgium [4]. Academy officials unveiled the three youth nominees at the International Film Festival Glasgow on November 1, 2026. The youth nomination places an animated story alongside live-action coming-of-age films, allowing young audiences across participating European cities to vote on the winning project before the Athens ceremony. Young jurors will screen all three nominated films in regional theaters [3].
Competing across both general animation and youth categories repeats a pattern from the previous awards cycle [6]. In 2025, director Ugo Bienvenu’s science-fiction feature Arco earned nominations for European Animated Feature Film and the European Young Audience Award after winning the Annecy Cristal. The story followed a ten-year-old girl named Iris who meets a boy falling from the sky in 2075 [5].
Short Films on the European Film Awards Ballot
Animated works also secured two of the five spots in the European Short Film category. Jocelyn Charles received a nomination for the French animated short God Is Shy (titled Dieu est timide), while Swedish director Niki Lindroth von Bahr took a nomination spot with The End, co-produced by Sweden, France, and Denmark. The European Film Academy announced the short film nominees on November 13, 2026, during the Seville European Film Festival. The two animated shorts contend against three live-action and documentary titles: Randa Maroufi’s L’Mina, co-produced by France, Morocco, Italy, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates; Basma al-Sharif’s Morning Circle, backed by Germany, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates; and Emma Hütt and Tina Muffler’s Unleaded 95, produced by Germany and Austria [1].
Curators follow independent short releases through specialized screening initiatives throughout the festival season [1]. Audiences track short animation through programs such as the Animation Showcase collection of festival shorts, which compiled fifteen festival selections into a dedicated digital screening package. Independent showcases keep short-form projects visible between major academy events.
Having two animated shorts on the final ballot marks a change from the 38th ceremony. During that earlier cycle, no animated short reached the final ballot, and animation was confined to features running longer than 60 minutes [5]. The current nominations restore short-form animation to the Academy’s official roster [1].
Thessaloniki Announcement and Athens Gala
The European Film Academy presented the nominations at the Pavlos Zannas Theatre in the Olympion building in Thessaloniki. Co-organised with the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center – EKKOMED, the event formed part of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Presenters revealed contenders across sixteen categories, officially launching the final voting period for the 39th annual ceremony [2].
The Academy’s 5,700 members will now watch the nominated films before casting final ballots to decide the winners [1]. The voting body grew from the 5,400 members who participated in the 38th awards held at Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt on January 17, 2026 [5]. In the overall European Film category, the 5,700 voters will choose between fifteen nominees, including five animated features, five fiction titles, and five documentaries [2]. Voting follows strict Diversity and Inclusion Standards designed to reflect the breadth of European filmmaking cultures. Members cast ballots through secure online systems administered by the Academy [3].
Winners will be announced on January 16, 2027, during a ceremony at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens. European Film Academy Productions will co-present the gala with the Academy. The ceremony will stream live on the Academy’s official website, giving international viewers immediate access to the results [2].
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