The Killing of a Sacred Deer

#IrishFilm: The Killing of a Sacred Deer secures 3 nominations for the European Film Awards

The Element Pictures-produced The Killing of a Sacred Deer has picked up three nominations at this year’s European Film Awards, which honours the greatest achievements in European Cinema.  Director Yorgos Lanthimos is nominated for best director as well as European screenwriter along with Efthimis Filippou, while Colin Farrell is nominated for Best Actor.

The nominations follow a fantastic US opening, already grossing $625k. The Cannes winning film opened across the UK and Ireland this weekend following raves from both the media and cinema-goers alike, including from Scannain. It will be released across the world in the coming months.

I’m delighted for everyone involved in The Killing of a Sacred Deer that it’s getting such an endorsement from the European Film Awards, it’s a real honour.
Ed Guiney, Producer

Guiney was previously the recipient of the European co-production award – Prix Eurimages. The winners will be announced on at the 30th European Film Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 9 December, in Berlin.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer sees Colin Farrell reunite with Lanthimos. Farrell stars as Steven, a charismatic surgeon forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart when the behaviour of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing takes a sinister turn. Nicole Kidman also stars as the wife of Farrell’s character, along with young, Irish actor Barry Keoghan (’71 and Dunkirk), Raffey Cassidy (Tomorrowland), Sunny Suljic (The Unspoken), Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave), and Alicia Silverstone (Clueless).

The Killing of a Sacred Deer was produced by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe’s Element Pictures (The Lobster, Room, A Date for Mad Mary). Lanthimos and his regular collaborator, Efthymis Filippou, co-wrote the project, which was shot last Autumn in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The film is financed by Film4 and New Sparta Films along with the Irish Film Board. The project was developed by Element Pictures with support from Film4. HanWay Films is worldwide sales agent with A24 on board as US distributor.

Element Pictures is headed by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, with offices in Dublin and London encompassing production, distribution, and exhibition. Recent productions include Lenny Abrahamson’s Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Room, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, winner of the Jury Prize in Cannes and Academy Award-nominated for Best Original Screenplay, as well as Darren Thornton’s acclaimed A Date for Mad Mary, the recent IFTA winner for Best Irish Film. Upcoming productions include Lanthimos’ The Favourite, starring Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz, Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience, starring Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz and Alessandro Nivola. Element Pictures Distribution handles StudioCanal’s slate in Ireland as well as direct acquisitions. Element Pictures operates an online video on demand platform, Volta.ie and also operates the Light House Cinema, one of Dublin’s premier art house cinemas.

All the nominees

Best European Film

BPM (Beats per Minute) (Robin Campillo, France)
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia, Belgium, Germany, France)
On Body and Soul (Ildiko Enyedi, Hungary)
The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland, Germany)
The Square (Ruben Ostlund, Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark)

Best European Director

Ildiko Enyedi, (On Body and Soul)
Aki Kaurismaki, (The Other Side of Hope)
Yorgos Lanthimos, (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Ruben Ostlund, (The Square)
Andrey Zvyagintsev, (Loveless)

Best European Actor

Claes Bang, (The Square)
Colin Farrell, (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Josef Hader, (Farewell to Europe)
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, (BPM (Beats per Minute))
Jean-Louis Trintignant, (Happy End)

Best European Actress

Paula Beer, (Frantz)
Juliette Binoche, (Bright Sunshine In)
Alexandra Borbely, (On Body and Soul)
Isabelle Huppert, (Happy End)
Florence Pugh, (Lady Macbeth)

Best European Screenwriter

Ildiko Enyedi, (On Body and Soul)
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Ruben Ostlund, (The Square)
Oleg Negin and Andrey Zvyagintsev, (Loveless)
François Ozon, Frantz)

Best European Documentary

Austerlitz (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany)
Communion (Anna Zamecka, Poland)
La Chana (Lucija Stojevic, Spain, Iceland, U.S.)
Stranger in Paradise (Guido Hendrikx, Netherlands)
The Good Postman (Tonislav Hristov, Finland, Bulgaria)

Best European Animated Feature

Ethel & Ernest (Roger Mainwood, U.K., Luxembourg)
Louise by the Shore (Jean-François Laguionie, France, Canada)
Loving Vincent (Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Poland, U.K.)
Zombillenium (Arthur de Pins , Alexis Ducord, France, Belgium)

Best European Comedy

King of The Belgians (Jessica Woodworth, Peter Brosens, Belgium, The Netherlands, Bulgaria)
The Square (Ruben Ostlund, Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark)
Vincent and The End of The World (Christophe van Rompaey, Belgium, France)
Welcome to Germany (Simon Verhoeven, Germany)