LUX Prize: The European Parliament is commited to culture
The European Parliament and cultural diversity
The European Parliament is a champion – and a symbol – of cultural diversity. Its very make-up reflects Europe’s multiplicity of cultures and languages. With 785 seats, the European Parliament is the world’s largest international parliamentary body. It is also the most diverse: its Members represent the people of the European Union’s 27 Member States; 23 languages are spoken in the Parliament, not to mention the regional and minority languages of the Union. The Parliament, whose legislative powers are steadily increasing, shares the Union’s motto, ‘Unity in Diversity’. Intercultural dialogue and freedom of thought, which have inspired and underpinned the history of European cinema, are two of its most cherished causes.
Cinema at the heart of cultural exception
Cinema lies at the heart of the European cultural model. It is emblematic of the cultural exception dispute between the European Union and the United States. Cinema is also a medium that is accessible to a very large number of people of all ages. Marrying sound and image, it has always been a medium that appeals to the individual at an emotional rather than a cognitive level. At a time when text as a medium is at a crossroads, cinema is the ideal vehicle for communication – or reflection – on Europe and its future.
Further information:
Press conference, 01/10/2007, Gérard Onesta (Vice-President) : Audio, 30:03
The aims of the LUX Prize
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Shedding a different light on the future of Europe
One of the main criteria in selecting the films short-listed for the LUX Prize has been their success in showing the process of building Europe in a different light. As the European Union works on a new treaty, the artistic and narrative quality of the winning film will give the audience a glimpse of a submerged dimension of the European venture – the individual, perhaps the intimate, dimension. -
Facilitating circulation of European films
Breaking through the language barrier that prevents films from moving around the European Union is the other major objective of the LUX Prize. It will give a powerful circulation boost to a cinematic work within the common market and will ultimately add to Europe’s cinematographic and cultural wealth.
The jury for the LUX Prize: the 785 Members of the European Parliament
The jury will be formed of the 785 women and men seating at the European Parliament. They will all be invited to see the films in competition. In order to give every Member the opportunity to vote, the votes will be counted as follows:
- one film seen = one vote ;
- two films seen = two votes ;
- three films seen = three votes.
Showings are free and open to MEPs, who have priority, and, subject to availability of seats, anyone else with an interest in cinema and authorised access to the European Parliament. The LUX Prize will be awarded to the film that receives the most vote.
The LUX Prize will be awarded to the film that receives the most votes.
Top of the pageThe Prize and the award ceremony in the hemicycle
Awarded by the Members of the European Parliament, the LUX Prize honours a work which illustrates particularly well the universal nature of European values, cultural diversity and the European integration process.
A trophy is presented to the winner by the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, in the presence of the 784 other members of the Assembly and representatives of the three finalists.
The LUX Prize consists of assistance in kind in the form of subtitling and video-to-film transfer (kinescopage) of the winning film in the 23 official EU languages. There will also be an original language adaptation for the deaf and hard of hearing.
If the winning film has already been sold for projection in cinemas in some countries and subtitled for the purpose, the Lux Prize consists in assistance with production of the DVD.
Top of the pageVisual identity of the LUX Prize
 "European Parliament - Cinema Prize \"Lux Prize\"")
LUX is the Latin word for light.
The concept underlying the logo of the LUX Prize is the Tower of Babel, understood in a positive sense as a tower which, because it has the richness of diversity as its foundation, does not collapse. Like the European Parliament, it symbolises linguistic plurality and cultural diversity brought together in one and the same place and with one and the same ambition.