Britain’s Blokes Lead The Way

The jury for the European Film Academy have ruminated and cogitated and come up with an abbreviated shortlist for this year's European Oscars, which was released today. Unfortunately, while British talent was in abundance at the first stages of voting, there's only a scattering of UK names left in the competition. Bridget Jones's Diary secures one slot in the Best European film category but Britain's best chance of success comes in the Best European Actor field which includes Ben Kingsley for his performance in Sexy Beast and the ensemble cast of Last Orders, featuring Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings, Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone. The film receives its first UK outing as part of this year's London Film Festival on 10 November 2001. Other successful candidates include Charlotte Rampling - who nabs a Best Actress nod for her role in the French language film Sous Le Sable, director Pawel Pawlikowski for Last Resort and short filmmaker Jocelyn Cammack for his film Better Or Worse?. The European Film Awards Empire Online will be reporting from the European Film Awards which take place in Berlin on 1 December 2001. In between downing champagne cocktails, we'll be bringing you the winners as they're announced and interviewing the elite of the European film world over the course of the event.