The White Ribbon

If the quality of films nominated for best picture is a measure of the Oscars versus the European Film Awards, the EFAs are clearly superior. Yet while there's already a buzz about which pictures might figure in Oscar nominations, there's hardly a mention of the European awards, which will be given out at a gala event in Bochum, Germany on Saturday.

Four of the six nominations would rank on almost any list of the best films of 2009. Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon has already won the Cannes Palme d'Or, Jacques Audiard's A Prophet won the Cannes Grand Prix, Tomas Alfredson's Let The Right One In is regarded by many as one of the best horror thrillers of the decade, and Fish Tank, which won Andrea Arnold the best director award at Cannes, features a terrific debut by teenager Kathie Jarvis.

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, which swept the 2008 Oscars earlier this year, and Stephen Daldry's The Reader, which won Kate Winslet an Oscar, are also nominated for the EFA best picture award, making it a genuine showdown of greats.

Audiard, Arnold, Boyle and Haneke also have nominations for best director, along with Pedro Almodovar (Broken Embraces) and Lars Von Trier (AntiChrist), while A Prophet, Slumdog and The White Ribbon also have a shot at best screenplay along with Mid-August's Gianni di Gregorio. A Prophet's Tahar Rahim is favourite for best actor, but best actress is a close contest between a terrific line-up of AntiChrist's Charlotte Gainsbourg, The Reader's Kate Winslet, Broken Embrace's Penelope Cruz, Seraphine's Yolande Moreau and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace.

Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker has kicked off the US awards season by winning best picture and best ensemble cast at the Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York. Natalie Portman, star of Jim Sheridan's Oscar contender Brothers, received a career tribute along with The Lovely Bones veteran star Stanley Tucci. Catalina Saavedra won the breakthrough award for The Maid, and Robert Kenner's Food, Inc was named best documentary.

Lenny Abrahamson's 2004 cult hit Adam & Paul has been reissued in a Special Edition DVD that includes rushes, the original shooting script, deleted scenes and the director's and writer's commentary.