Directorate-General for Communication
Programme
Webinar Tuesday 8 June 2021
THE LUX AUDIENCE AWARD European Cinema & Freedom of Speech
16.00 - 16.30: Protecting the right of freedom of expression and freedom of press
16.00 Welcome and practicalities
HEIDI HAUTALA (The Greens, FI), Vice-President of European Parliament
Mike DOWNEY, Chairman of the European Film Academy EFA Bartosz BIELENIA, Lead actor CORPUS CHRISTI Catalin TOLONTAN, Protagonist journalist COLLECTIVE
Q&A session
16.40 -17.10: Keeping European Cinema creative and free after COVID -19
Sabine VERHEYEN (EPP, DE), Chair of the Committee on Culture
Kasper DISSING, Producer ANOTHER ROUND Bartosz BIELENIA, Lead actor CORPUS CHRISTI Alexander NANAU, Director/Producer COLLECTIVE
Q&A session
17.10 Final remarks
Moderators: James Maher and Petra Rusinova (WebComm, European Parliament)
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BACKGROUND
The LUX PRIZE has been awarded since 2007 by the European Parliament to a European film of outstanding artistic quality and showcasing topical narratives. Three competing films each year benefit not only from greater exposure and visibility, but also from subtitling into all official 24 European languages, thus giving it wider availability prospects and support to distributors. In 2020, the European Parliament joined forces with the European Film Academy and revamped its LUX PRIZE into the LUX AUDIENCE AWARD. Until last year, only Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) could select the award winner by voting.
Now, audiences from all over Europe are also invited to vote for the LUX AUDIENCE AWARD by rating each film with stars: they represent 50% of the total votes. The other 50% is represented by the vote of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The film with the highest average rating will become the winner. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 9 June 2021, in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Through this process, the ambition is to create the biggest audience jury ever, giving MEPs and the audience the opportunity to share a real cinematic experience.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the creative and cinema industry hard. Cinema screenings of the three finalist films have been limited, and are mostly been replaced by online screenings and events. MEPs have approved the biggest ever budget for the EU's culture and creative sectors - -2027 in May plenary session. How will European cinema cope in the aftermaths of the Covid-19 pandemic?
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The European Film Academy represented by Mike Downey, initiated last year the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (such as Oleg Sentsov) and protagonists of the LUX films of this year: Bartosz Bielenia (lead actor in the Polish film CORPUS CHRISTI, last r) and Catalin Tolontan (journalist and protagonist in the Romanian documentary COLLECTIVE - European Documentary 2020 and 2021 Oscar contender in four categories). Why is free speech critical to film production?
The three finalists for the LUX AUDIENCE AWARD
ANOTHER ROUND by THOMAS VINTERBERG Academy Award winner for 'Best International Feature Film' at the 93rd Academy Awards BAFTA 2021-winner for 'Best Film Not in the English Language' César Award-winner for 'Best Foreign Film' Nominated for the 78th Picture
Won four awards including best film, director, screenplay and actor for Mads Mikkelsen at the European Film Awards 2020
COLLECTIVE by ALEXANDER NANAU Best Documentary Nominee Academy Awards Best International Feature Nominee Academy Awards Best Documentary Nominee BAFTA Best Documentary Nominee Film Independent Spirit Awards, Winner Best Documentary Cinema Eye Honors Winner, Best Documentary European Film Awards 2020
CORPUS CHRISTI by JAN KOMASA 2020 Academy Award Nominee Best International Feature Film VENICE-Giornate degli Autori World Premiere | Europa Cinemas Label Award El Gouna Film Festival | Silver Star for Narrative Film, Star for the Best Actor Chicago International Film Festival | Best Actor for Bartosz Bielenia Palm Springs IFF | FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actor in a International Feature, Young Cineastes Award