The ten films selected for the 11th European Parliament’s LUX Film Prize were revealed on Sunday at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
From the 10 films in the Official Selection, 3 entries will be selected and announced at the Venice Days press conference in Rome at the end of July 2017 as those taking part in the LUX Film Prize Competition. These films will compete to be the winner of the 2017 LUX Film Prize, and will become the core of the 2017 LUX Film Days.
The 2017 LUX Film Prize winner will be awarded on November 15 in Strasbourg.
The LUX FILM PRIZE Official Selection (in alphabetical order)
A CIAMBRA by Jonas Carpignano (Italy/Brazil/United States/France/Germany/Sweden)
BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE) by Robin Campillo (France)
GLORY by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)
HEARTSTONE by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Iceland/Denmark)
KING OF THE BELGIANS by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth (Belgium/Netherlands/Bulgaria)
SÁMI BLOOD by Amanda Kernell (Sweden/Denmark/Norway)
SUMMER 1993 by Carla Simón (Spain)
THE LAST FAMILY by Jan P Matuszyński (Poland)
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE by Aki Kaurismäki (Finland/Germany)
WESTERN by Valeska Grisebach (Germany/Bulgaria/Austria)
More about the 10 films…
SUMMER 1993 is an intimate, autobiographical study of how hard it can be to fit in; it portrays a child’s experience of learning to live with grief and harsh reality after she finds herself orphaned at just six years old.
HEARTSTONE tells the story of two teenagers from rural Iceland getting to grips with their own identity and sexuality, as well as with the delicate and cruel transition to adulthood.
A CIAMBRA traces the rite of passage to adulthood of a 14-year-old Roma boy living in the neighborhood of the same name in Calabria, a marginalized community described by journalists as a real ghetto.
SÁMI BLOOD tells the vibrant tale of a young Lapp girl who dreams of a different life and distances herself from her community with great anguish because of the racist attitudes they have to face.
BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE) follows a group of Act Up activists who fight to lend the AIDS problem more visibility in 1992 France and encourage faster progress to be made in terms of research and prevention.
WESTERN injects a story about German workers on a construction site for a hydroelectric power station in Bulgaria with ingredients from the cowboys-and-Indians classics, addressing the issues of economic immigration and integration.
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE weaves together the stories of two men who have both struck out in search of a new life: an old Finnish man who buys a restaurant and a young Syrian immigrant who struggles to find a safe haven in Europe.
GLORY follows a poor, middle-aged linesman for Bulgaria’s national railway company, who decides to hand piles of banknotes he finds on the rails one day in to the police, triggering a fight against corruption, as well as one for justice and dignity.
THE LAST FAMILY shows the lives of the family of Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński, in what could be described as a compact version of a 28-year reality show, as he recorded most of his day-to-day life.
KING OF THE BELGIANS follows a fictitious King of Belgium forced to come back from an official trip when Wallonia suddenly declares its independence, while a solar storm causes communications to collapse and airspace to shut down.