The newly elected President of the of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture, Silvia Costa, via a video message from Brussels on 22 July 2014 announced at the press conference of the Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori) the three contending films to run for the LUX Prize 2014.
Directors will attend the upcoming Venice Film Festival to present the three films:
CLASS ENEMY (RAZREDNI SOVRAZNIK), by Rok Biček – Slovenia
GIRLHOOD (BANDE DE FILLES), by Céline Sciamma – France
IDA, by Pawel Pawlikowski –Poland, Denmark.
This shortlist was chosen from the ten films of the LUX Prize 2014 Official Selection which were unveiled on 6th July at the 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
BANDE DE FILLES (GIRLHOOD), by Céline Sciamma – France
FEHER ISTEN (WHITE GOD), by Kornél Mundruczó – Hungary, Germany, Sweden
HERMOSA JUVENTUD (BEAUTIFUL YOUTH), by Jaime Rosales – Spain, France
IDA, by Pawel Pawlikowski – Poland, Denmark
KREUZWEG (STATIONS OF THE CROSS), by Dietrich Brüggemann – Germany, France
LE MERAVIGLIE (THE WONDERS), by Alice Rohrwacher – Italy, Switzerland, Germany
MACONDO, by Sudabeh Mortezai – Austria
RAZREDNI SOVRAZNIK (CLASS ENEMY), by Rok Biček – Slovenia
TURIST (FORCE MAJEURE), by Ruben Östlund – Sweden, Denmark, France, Norway
XENIA, by Panos H. Koutras – Greece, France, Belgium
The 3 films in Competition for the LUX Prize of the European Parliament, which is partnered with Venice Days for the fifth year, will start travelling from Venice across the whole of Europe, thanks to the LUX FILM DAYS from mid-October to December 2014. The 3 films will be subtitled into the 24 official EU languages and will be screened in more than 40 cities and 18 festivals, allowing each year a larger number of Europeans to discover or re-watch the 3 films.
The LUX Prize is an innovative way to explore major European policy areas such as immigration, integration, poverty and violence against women. Since 2007, the European Parliament LUX prize casts an annual spotlight on films that go to the heart of the European public debate. The Parliament believes that the cinema, a mass cultural medium, can be an ideal vehicle for debate and reflection on Europe and its future. Cinema is popular, attracts different generations and is affordable.
The films selected for the LUX Prize competition help to air different views on some of the main social and political issues of the day and, as such, contribute to building a stronger European identity. They help celebrate the universal reach of European values, illustrate the diversity of European traditions and shed light on the process of European integration.
The LUX Prize is becoming a quality label backing European film productions. Its winning films have become hits within the EU and beyond. It has helped publicise films that might have otherwise only been seen and discovered by few and has put the spotlight on urgent issues of the day.
