Three acclaimed European films have been selected as the finalists for this year’s Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films: Myrsini Aristidou’s Hold Onto Me (Cyprus/Denmark/Greece), Lukas Dhont’s Coward (Belgium/France/Netherlands) and Markus Schleinzer’s Rose (Austria/Germany). The award is jointly presented by European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), and hosted by El Gouna Film Festival. All three finalists have also been selected as their respective countries’ submissions for the 99th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.

Myrsini Aristidou’s debut feature, Hold Onto Me, centres on 11-year-old Iris, who discovers that her estranged father Aris has returned to their Cypriot seaside town for his own father’s funeral. The film premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, where it won the Audience Award. The film is Cyprus’ official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film and is sold by Cercamon.

Lukas Dhont’s Coward, which turns to the battlefields of the First World War for a story about fear, intimacy and the expectations placed on young men in wartime, celebrated its world premiere in competition at Cannes, where newcomers Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne jointly received the Award for Best Actor. The film is Belgium’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and is sold internationally by The Match Factory.

Set amid the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War, Markus Schleinzer’s Rose follows a woman who has created a life for herself as a man, arriving in a secluded Protestant village and claiming an abandoned farmstead. Starring Sandra Hüller in the title role, Rose premiered in competition at the 76th Berlinale, where Hüller received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. The film is Austria’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and is also sold by The Match Factory.

The more than 100 Arab film critics from 14 countries will now choose the winning film from the three finalists. The winner will be announced during the ninth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, taking place from 15 to 23 October. Previous winners are Teona Strugar Mitevska's God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (2019), Christian Petzold's Undine (2020), Peter Kerekes' 107 Mothers (2021), Jerzy Skolimowski's EO (2022), Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves (2023) and Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) and Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin (2025).