REPORT: FERA at EU Parliament November Plenary in – LUX Prize 2019 – 26 November 2019

Photo © Maxime Faury

This November, FERA participated at the EU Parliament’s Plenary in Strasbourg, , on the occasion of the Award Ceremony of LUX Film Prize 2019. LUX Film Prize is EU Parliament’s Award for film, celebrating European artistic creation and diversity and supporting the transnational circulation and distribution of European . This year’s LUX Prize laureate is God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya by Teona Strugar Mitevska. The Award Ceremony took place on the 27 th of November in the Hemicycle. The other two finalists were Cold Case Hammarskjöld by Mads Brügger and The Realm by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

A LUX Prize Media Roundtable on November 26th preceded the event, gathering Ukrainian director and former political detainee Oleg Sentsov, directors and LUX Film Prize 2019 finalists Teona Strugar Mitevska and Mads Brügger, Gerardo Hererro, producer of The Realm, EU Parliament Vice-Presidents Klara Dobrev (S&D, ) and Heidi Hautala (Geens/ EFA, ). The Roundtable was moderated by FERA CEO Pauline Durand-Vialle and the discussion delved into European cinema, artistic vision and freedom of creation as well as the EU as a whole. FERA also partnered in a LUX Prize Dinner event, on the evening of November 26th, together with SAA (Society of Audiovisual Authors), FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe) and LUX Film Prize. The event celebrated European cinema and cultural diversity and was a platform for audiovisual authors to meet with EU cultural policymakers. Among the guests were Oleg Sentsov, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Mads Brügger, Gerardo Hererro, actors Zorica Nusheva and Antonio de la Torre, FERA Chair Klemen Dvornik, FERA board member Hrvoje Hribar, but also filmmakers from , France, and as well as EU policymakers. The event included brief addresses by SAA Chair Barbara Hayes, Klara Dobrev, Teona Strugar Mitevska and Klemen Dvornik highlighting the importance of cinema and artistic freedom for Europe.