22/10/2012 - The MEPs to award the 2012 LUX Prize to one of the 3 finalist films

The 6th Edition of the LUX Prize Competition started last Tuesday, 16 October, with the Members of the European Parliament voting for their favourite film and selecting the winner among the three finalists. A Video on Demand service has been activated for MEPs to allow them to watch the films online.

The three films of 2012 LUX Prize Competition are Bence Fliegauf’s Just the Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bence Fliegauf
film profile], Andrea Segre’s Li and the Poet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Segre
interview: Andrea Segre
film profile] and Miguel Gomes’ Tabu [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miguel Gomes
interview: Miguel Gomes
film profile].

From November 5-16 , two weeks of screenings will take place in the European Parliament. To share this event with the city of Brussels and its citizens, the LUX Prize of the European Parliament is organising three special screenings and a debate at the Bozar - on November 5, 6 and 7.

The same three films will be also shown in the 27 Member States as part of the LUX FILM DAYS organised by the European Parliament Information Offices and will be followed by topical debates and exchange of views.

“We strongly believe that the stories told by European cinema help the European citizens to understand better each other, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. In these troubled times, better mutual understanding between nations and citizens is more and more important. This is why sharing the same cultural event and exchanging views on common issues could serve as a way to build bridges between people. Needless to say, between citizens and institutions”, declared Isabelle Durant, Vice-President of the European Parliament and Doris Pack, President of the Committee on Culture and Education in a joint declaration.

“Taken together, these three remarkable films reflect the richness, depth and beauty of the European cinema. Each has its own take on the questions facing our society, approaching them realistically or imaginatively, harshly or delicately, from a contemporary or nostalgic viewpoint”.

After the screenings, the MEPs' votes will be cast due 20 November, and the LUX Prize winner will be officially awarded on 21 November before the sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in presence of the filmmakers.

“The LUX Prize is the most important prize a filmmaker can dream to receive,” Li and the Poet’s director Andrea Segre told Cineuropa. “It proves that cinema and culture can influence in a positive way the politics,” he concluded.