Michael Haneke's "Amour" picks up 6 European Film Awards nominations

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Amour" Michael Haneke's wrenching story of old age, was the most nominated film for the European Film Awards, which were announced in Seville, Spain, by the European Film Academy, TheWrap said.

"Amour," the Cannes winner that will be released in the U.S. in December by Sony Pictures Classics, picked up six nominations, including European Film 2012, writing and directing nods for Haneke, and acting kudos for Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva.

Thomas Vinterberg's "Jagten" ("The Hunt"), about a small-town schoolteacher accused of child molestation, and Steve McQueen's sexually explicit "Shame" (which qualified despite its 2011 U.S. release) won five nominations.

"Amour," "Jagten" and "Shame" were joined in the European Film 2012 category by the German film "Barbara," the Italian "Caesar Must Die" and the French hit "Intouchables."

Seven of the nominees – "Amour," "Intouchables," "Barbara," "Caesar Must Die," "Our Children," "Beyond the Hills" and "A Royal Affair" – are entries in this year's Best Foreign-Language Film competition at the Academy Awards.

The European Film Awards will take place in Malta on Dec. 1.