15/10/2015 - Today sees the official presentation of this year’s edition of the European Parliament’s film prize, which will choose its winner from among Mediterranea, Mustang and The Lesson, and its LUX Film Days

Given out each year by the European Parliament in order to cast a spotlight on the diversity of European cinema, the LUX Prize has kicked off its 2015 edition with the official presentation in the European Parliament’s Cultural Committee. The three finalists for the prize – Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile], Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
film profile], and Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s The Lesson [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile] – will be watched and voted for by the Members of the European Parliament, as well as by audiences across Europe, until the awards ceremony. 

The Official Selection, comprising ten films (read the news) from which the three finalists were chosen, focused on movies that were able to build social and cultural values. Chair of the EU’s Cultural Committee Silvia Costa said, “It is not a question of entertainment: it is a question of values; European values that are constantly threatened. We have to get engaged in defending them, and we have a terrific opportunity to do that through the use of a mass cultural medium such as cinema. 

The competition will officially open on 19 October, through the beginning of the screenings across the 28 Member States, and the possibility for the Members of the European Parliament to start watching the films and voting. The films will also be screened inside the European Parliament, in a cinema duly built for that purpose from 9-20 November. The voting deadline for the Members of the Parliament is 24 November, just one day before the awards ceremony, which will take place on 25 November in Strasbourg.

As usual, the LUX Prize is not solely intended for MEPs, but also for European audiences. 19 October will also mark the beginning of the fourth edition of the LUX Film Days: the three films will be screened all around the European Union at more than 200 events. For the first time ever, one of the films will be screened simultaneously in 9 different cities, followed by a Q&A with its director live from Brussels: Mediterranea will be seen on 11 November in the Belgian capital, Seville, Bratislava, Paris, Lisbon, Santiago de Compostela, Cork and Aarhus. The Q&A and the live tweet will also be hosted by ARTE. Costa added, “This premiere reflects the original spirit of the LUX Film Days: to give European moviegoers the opportunity to see the same movie at the same time across the EU, and thus to exchange their opinions and their views on it.”