Justin Camilleri
"The cinema is the mirror of each country, we must have more film education so people speak about films, when youngsters watch films they are astonished at the big screen, we can't have a European identity if we don't know one another".
These are the powerful words of film director and President of Cinémathèque Française, Costa Gavras, and which summed up the European LUX Film Prize award ceremony held last week in Strasbourg, which left its audiences in awe of contemporary European film, highlighting current social realities.
The film that won the 2015 European Parliament Lux Prize was Mustang, a French-Turkish production that tells the story of five sisters living in rural Turkey, who have been promised to husbands through arranged marriages, but break tradition, adamant to live their own lives. The movie, directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven has been selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016. Labour MEP, Marlene Mizzi, a member of the Culture and Education Committee in charge of the LUX Film Prize, who gave her vote for this particular entry, stated: "The LUX Film Prize has given recognition to some of the best European films. With this year's winner Mustang, LUX strengthens the notion that cinema must highlight social issues such as female emancipation which unfortunately still resonates till this day in certain societies." Mrs Mizzi added: "Reading what's going on in newspapers and the web is good but seeing a visual story such as Mustang inspires people to reflect and discuss, unlike commercial cinema. These films make us aware of important issues."
Mediterranea by Jonas Carpignano and Urok (The Lesson) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov were the other two films on the shortlist for the 2015 award. The films will get subtitles and distribution among EU's 24 official member states.
Mediterranea is a story inspired by the 2010 Rosarno race riots in southern Italy, while Urok (The Lesson) introduces the audience to a journey of self-discovery as a young teacher is blackmailed by loan sharks, and is left to find her own way to deal with it. The LUX Film Prize is being used as an instrument for cultural diplomacy as this year's selected films own powerful potential to engage people in reflective and significant dialogue.
During the Cinema Education seminar that followed the LUX Film Prize award ceremony, the Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, Silvia Costa spoke about the importance of the European Film Industry and the LUX Film Prize is laying the foundations of a common language through European Cinema.
The LUX winner is selected annually by the Members of the European Parliament. The audience will also get a chance to vote for their favourite film screened at the ceremony. The winners of this year's LUX Film Prize Audience Mention will be announced at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.