“After the time we’ve just lived through, people’s need to come together is growing, not just in spaces made for debate but also in places like cinemas, and that is urgently needed. Culture and cinema are not only an expression of our creativity or economic vitality, but also underline the pluralism and democratic vitality of our societies, ”said David Sassoli during the hybrid ceremony.
The film’s director and producer, Alexander Nanau, accepted the award and paid respect to the victims and families involved in the tragedy and the free press who exposed it. “We want to fight corruption in Europe and we want a free press,” he said. “Societies don’t develop further if we don’t have cultural education and a free press. It is your duty to support our citizens and to shape spending on culture and education and to protect journalism, ”he said.
The other two films were shortlisted “The Intoxication” by the Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and “Body of Christ” by the Polish director Jan Komasa.
Find out more about the films nominated for the LUX Audience Award.
The films were judged on the one hand by the public and on the other by MEPs. The average ratings of the two groups each contributed 50% to the overall rating.
The corona pandemic has hit the creative and cinema industries. The three finalist films could only be shown to a limited extent in the cinema, so that the films were mainly shown online. The audience could rate the films until May 23rd, the MPs until June 8th.
The winning film
“Collective – Corruption Kills” (Original title: “Colective”) by the Romanian director Alexander Nanau
This moving documentary is named after the Bucharest nightclub “Colective”, in which 27 young people died and 180 people were injured in a fire in 2015. The documentary follows a team of journalists who want to find out why 37 of the injured died in the hospital after the fire, even though their injuries were not life-threatening. Disastrous grievances related to nepotism and corruption were exposed. At the same time, Nanau shows how one can fight corrupt systems with courage and decisive action. The film was nominated for the Oscars in the categories of “Best International Film” and “Best Documentary” in 2021.
Press conference and other events
From 1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., watch the press conference, in which the winners, the other finalists, the European Film Academy and the Chair of the Culture Committee, Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany), will take part.
At 2 p.m. on Facebook Live stream with the winner instead of.
In a webinar you can learn more about what the future of the European cinema landscape will look like after the corona pandemic. You can find more information about the event at the Facebook page of the LUX Prize.
The LUX audience award
The LUX Audience Award is a pan-European film award that the European Parliament and the European Film Academy organized to strengthen the links between citizens and politics. The LUX audience award is a continuation of the LUX award, the film award of the European Parliament. It was launched in 2007 to promote European films that spark social debates on political and social issues. The finalist films will be subtitled in all 24 EU official languages.
Also the European Commission and the Europe Cinemas Network are partners of the LUX Prize.
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