Turkey's Ceylan vying for dircting prize in European Film Awards

Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan was nominated for the best director prize in this year's European Film Awards on Saturday for his most recent directorial effort "Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da" (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia). The European Film Academy announced the 2012 nominations on Saturday at the Seville European Film Festival. "Anatolia" is also in the running for the best cinematography prize for Gokhan Tiryaki, according to the EFA website, www.europeanfilmacademy.org. Ceylan is up against Michael Haneke, for "Amour" (Love), Steve McQueen, for "Shame," Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, for "Cesare deve morire" (Caesar Must Die), and Thomas Vinterberg, for "Jagten" (The Hunt), in the race for the European Director prize. Four of the European Director nominees -- "Amour," "Cesare deve morire," "Jagten" and "Shame" -- are also in the running for the top honor, European Film, alongside "Intouchables" (Untouchable), directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, and "Barbara," by Christian Petzold. "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia," a critics' favorite, which follows a doctor, a public prosecutor, a police chief and a murder suspect as they search for a missing body in the vast steppes near a Central Anatolian town, had shared the Grand Prix with Belgium's Dardenne brothers' "The Kid With a Bike" at last year's Cannes film festival. Also from Turkey on the EFA shortlist on Saturday was the short film "Sessiz / Bé Deng" (Silent), directed by Rezan Yesilbas. The winners of the 25th European Film Awards will be announced in a ceremony in Malta on Dec. 1.