Did you know that the European Parliament is the only institution of its kind that together with the European Film Academy presents a film award?

Established in 2007 as a symbol of the EP's commitment to culture on the old continent, the LUX Film Award has helped promote more than 100 films. In 2021 the revamped “LUX European Audience Film Award” has welcomed European citizens in the winner selection process. The most notable change is seen in the voting system. Starting this year, the winner will be selected jointly by MEPs and the public.

"MEPs and the audience each represent 50% of the vote and I think this is extremely positive,” MEP Andrey Slabakov, who is also a director and screenwriter, says. “The voice of the audience has always been important for people who make movies. And I don’t mean commercial movies. We need to make films about thinking people; these are most of the people in the EU and on the planet as a whole.”

The three films - finalists for the LUX European Audience Film Award have been selected by a 20-member committee that includes representatives of the European film industry.

To be eligible for selection, films must meet certain criteria. One of them is that they should be the result of productions or co-productions that meet the conditions of the MEDIA Sub-programme of Creative Europe.

"They should deal with universal topics that do not have to be social. There are no specific genre requirements,” Andrey Slabakov says. “What impresses me is that these are three completely different films and that makes me happy.”

According to the Bulgarian MEP, the requirement that the films should be financed under the Creative Europe program is a kind of obstacle to the participation of Bulgarian films in the competition. However, there is a Bulgarian trace in the competition.

LUX - the European Audience Film Award by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy aims to support European cinema in overcoming weaknesses in distribution. It is a fact that most European films are not screened outside their country of origin. Andrey Slabakov has told us what would happen to the winning film:

"It will be presented in all countries and it will receive translations in absolutely all official European languages. It will be screened in cinemas and I hope it would attract enough audience.”

May 23 is the deadline for voting. The winning film will be announced at the LUX European Audience Film Award ceremony on June 9, 2021 in the European Parliament.

English: Alexander Markov