Portugal Scores Rare Quartet on European Film Awards Long List

Four Portuguese productions have broken into the European Film Academy’s long-list for 2025, giving the national industry an early reason to cheer even before the nominations are announced in Berlin this November. While the Academy is still weeks away from revealing the final slate, the Portuguese contenders already guarantee the country its strongest presence in several years.

A rare quartet on the continental radar

Portugal is no stranger to the European Film Awards, yet securing four separate spots in the Feature Film Selection is unusual. In most years, Lisbon’s filmmakers celebrate one—occasionally two—entries. According to the national film agency ICA, this season’s quartet includes two narrative features, a documentary and an animated work, signalling a breadth of creative forms that rarely travel together under the same banner.

How the selection process works—and why it matters

The European Film Academy invites more than 4,600 voting members to view the long-listed titles between early October and mid-November. Only the pictures that survive this internal screening proceed to official nomination status in categories such as European Film, Director, Script, Actress, Actor and Documentary. For Portuguese producers, the distinction unlocks access to funding bodies—among them Eurimages—and can multiply a film’s international bookings. Streaming platforms often rush to purchase global rights once the EFA stamp appears on a poster.

Portugal’s mixed record at the EFAs

Since 2000, only three Portuguese features have reached the final nomination round and none has yet clinched the top prize. Shorts and animation fare better: Regina Pessoa’s Tragic Story with Happy Ending won in 2006, and the Oscar-nominated Ice Merchants earned a nod in 2023. The current four-film line-up therefore represents the country’s best statistical shot at finally converting feature-length acclaim into a trophy.

Voices from the industry

Veteran producer Luís Urbano says the long-list news ‘arrives at a time when co-production treaties are tightening’, noting that European visibility makes it easier to keep shoots in Portugal instead of relocating to cheaper hubs in the Balkans. Film scholar Maria do Rosário Gonçalves highlights the diversity of this year’s Portuguese entries: ‘We have rural drama, urban satire, a historical documentary and a bold animation. That variety mirrors what Portuguese audiences actually watch—yet foreigners still tend to equate our cinema with dour minimalism.’

What comes next

Final EFA nominations will be published on 7 November. The four Portuguese teams now enter a frenetic phase of private screenings, Q&A marathons and lobbying events across Europe. If any of them receive a nomination, the producers become eligible for support from Portugal Film to cover travel and marketing costs during awards season. Whatever the outcome, the presence of four national films in the long-list already ensures that Portugal will be front-of-mind for thousands of Academy voters—a visibility boost that money alone cannot buy.

Readers interested in following the European Film Awards calendar can consult the Academy’s official page here.