During a ceremony on Saturday, the three films shortlisted for the 2022 LUX Audience Award were revealed at the European Film Awards in Berlin.
Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE) said: “European cinema is a mirror of our society. It is one of the easiest ways to communicate our European values such as equality, freedom of expression and democracy. We as the Culture Committee are extremely proud of it.
The films nominated to win the LUX Audience Film Award are, as always, of high artistic quality and each represents a diverse angle of our European story. They deserve our attention because they move us and always make us think. I congratulate everyone who has worked on the selected films. Now the choice is ours. As Europeans, we can all watch and vote for the films. The decision about which film will win the LUX Audience Award is ours to make.”
Discovering the films
“Flee” by Danish director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, produced by Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway. In this animation, Amin recounts his journey as an Afghan child refugee who arrived in Denmark on his own. He tries to make peace with the past but also with himself and the secrets he has been hiding.
“Great Freedom” by Austrian director Sebastian Meise, produced by Austria and Germany. In post-war Germany, Hans ends up imprisoned time and again for being gay. He is denied freedom systematically for breaching paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code. The one constant in his life becomes his long-time cellmate, Viktor, a convicted murderer.
“Quo vadis Aida?” by Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić, produced by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Netherlands, France, Poland, Norway, Germany, Romania, and Turkey. Aida is a translator for the peacekeeping forces in the summer of 1995, in Srebrenica. Her family is among the thousands of civilians seeking shelter in the UN camp. Aida learns that a terrible fate awaits her family and people, but can she do anything to stop it?
Next steps
The three nominated films will now be subtitled in the 24 official EU languages and screenings across EU cinemas will be promoted and supported. from 12 December. The winner will be selected jointly by the members of the European Parliament and the public, each making up 50% of the vote.
Voting will conclude on 25 May 2022, with the winning film announced on 8 June 2022 in the European Parliament plenary sitting in Strasbourg.
Since 2020, the LUX – European Audience Film Award has been awarded by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, in partnership with the European Commission and the Europa Cinemas network.
The European Parliament established the LUX Film Prize in 2007 to help distribute European films with high artistic quality that reflect cultural diversity in Europe and beyond, and that touch upon topics of common concern, such as human dignity, equality, non-discrimination, inclusion, tolerance, justice and solidarity.
