The ten films which make up the Official Selection of the 2019 edition of the LUX Prize Competition was unveiled at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
The official line-up was revealed today at Karlovy Vary, on June 30, by European Parliament´s Vice-Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education Helga Trüpel, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control Martina Dlabajová, LUX Prize coordinator Doris Pack, and Benedikt Erlingsson, director of 2018 LUX Prize winner – Woman at War.
This year’s highlights in the selection include a total of four female directors (Teona Strugar Mitevska, Tamara Kotevska, Nora Fingscheidt and Natasha Merkulova), two documentaries (Cold Case Hammarskjöld and Honeyland), a sensational presence of small countries (not one but two films from North Macedonia) and European co-productions (half of the selection are co-productions).
The 2019 LUX Prize Official Selection
(in alphabetical order)
Clergy (Kler) – Wojciech Smarzowski (Poland)
Cold Case Hammarskjöld – Mads Brügger (Denmark/Norway/Sweden/Belgium/United Kingdom/Germany)
God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (Gospod postoi, imeto i´e Petrunya) – Teona Strugar Mitevska (North Macedonia/Belgium/Slovenia/ France/Croatia)
Her Job (I Doulia tis) – Nikos Labôt (Greece/France/Serbia)
Honeyland (Medena zemja) – Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov (North Macedonia)
Invisibles (Les invisibles) – Louis-Julien Petit (France)
Ray & Liz – Richard Billingham (United Kingdom)
System Crasher (Systemsprenger) – Nora Fingscheidt (Germany)
The Man Who Surprised Everyone (Tchelovek, kotorij udivil vsekh)– Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov (Russian Federation/Estonia/France)
The Realm (El reino) – Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain/France)
At the same event, the 2018 LUX Prize Audience Mention was announced. The 2018 LUX Prize Official Competition film that received the highest number of votes from audiences across Europe was Woman at War.
From the aforementioned 10 films in the Official Selection, 3 films will take part in the LUX Prize Competition, which will be selected and announced at the Giornate degli Autori press conference in Rome on July 23, 2019. These films will compete to be the winner of the 2019 LUX Prize and will become the core of the LUX Film Days.