“The Prophet”, one of the most notable and award-winning films of European cinema in the last year, will open the EFA selection on Friday 6th November at 22:15 in Seville’s Nervión Cinemas.

This Section will be showing the latest European films pre-selected by the European Film Academy (EFA) for their annual awards. The ceremony of announcing the nominations for the European film awards will be held, as part of the Seville Festival, on Saturday 7th November.

The French-Basque screenwriter Thomas Bidegain and the actor Niels Arestrup will be at the Seville Festival to present this “prison thriller” directed by Jacques Audiard. Known in Spain for films such as “A Very Discreet Hero” and “The Beat that My Heart Skipped”, his latest film is a thriller with an enormous dramatic and visual strength.

“The Prophet” tells the story of Malik, a young Arab of 19 who is sentenced to 6 years in prison. There, he will have to do all kinds of jobs (including murders) for the inmates belonging to the Corsican mafia in order to obtain protection, money and benefits. But the prison is filled with more and more Arabs who think he is a traitor and the protagonist tries to make his own way inside and outside the cells.

The film stars the new actor Tahar Rahim and the veteran Niels Arestrup, Audiard’s fetish actor. “The Prophet” is a portrait of a society marked by racial tension and growing violence. And it confirms that Audiard is one of the most solid and talented directors in French cinema of the last fifteen years. France has selected his film to be its representative at the next Oscar awards.

Among the 48 films pre-selected for the EFA awards in 2009, the Seville Festival will be offering, among others:

“The White Ribbon”, by Michael Haneke (Germany-Austria-France-Italy)
“Looking for Eric”, by Ken Loach (United Kingdom-France)
“Police, adjective”, by Corneliu Porumboiu (Rumania)
“Sweet Rush”, by Andrzej Wajda (Poland)
“Tears of April”, by Aku Louhimies (Finland-Germany-Greece)
“Vincere”, by Marco Bellochio (Italy-France)
“Winter in Wartime”, by Martin Koolhoven (Holland-Belgium)
“Fish Tank”, by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom) who will also be attending the Seville European Film Festival.