Showcasing Europe's Flair for Cinema

À peine j'ouvre les yeux (As I Open My Eyes) by Leyla Bouzid (France, Tunisia, Belgium, United Arab Emirates)

Ma vie de Courgette (My Life As a Courgette) by Claude Barras (Switzerland, France)

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the LUX Film Prize, and it is with a renewed pride that we unveil the Official Competition at the press conference of our oldest partner: the Venice Days. Indeed, it is the eighth year of partnership between the LUX Film Prize of the European Parliament and Venice Days. Venice will host the screening of the 3 films of the Official Competition in the framework of the Venice Film Market and symbolically marks the beginning of their European odyssey.

From October to December, À peine j'ouvre les yeux, Ma vie de Courgette and Toni Erdmann will become the core of the 2016 LUX Film Days and, will be screened in more than 50 cities and 20 festivals across 28 EU countries. Subtitled into the 24 official EU languages, Europeans will not only be able to discover them but also to discuss the issues that they raise.

Herein lies the uniqueness of the initiative of the European Parliament: by creating the framework for a European public space, the LUX Film Prize is a tool that shows the complexity of a European identity, as it interprets and presents the realities of European successes and challenges.

This year's LUX Film Days will also mark the beginning of cooperation between the European Parliament Information Offices and the Creative Europe MEDIA Desk, to strengthen visibility and broaden the audience.

And, to mark the 10th anniversary key figures from the European cinema will join the Members of the European Parliament in series of events in Brussels on 10th of October.

The 3 films in the Official Competition showcase the LUX Film Prize's desire to embrace an unpredictable variety of genre and tones like never before:

Leyla Bouzid's feature film debut takes viewers across the Mediterranean to show a young generation trapped between the hope and love they feel for their own country, and despair.

Claude Barras' first feature is a bittersweet poetic stop motion animation film - the first ever to appear in the LUX Film Prize Competition - that has been tenderly adapted from Gilles Paris' novel by the talented Céline Sciamma (director of Girlhood, which featured in the LUX Film Prize Competition 2014). It portrays the harsh reality of an orphanage with delicate and gawky humour.

Maren Ade's third feature film turns her gaze towards the contemporary corporate culture in an eminently political tragicomedy. A political statement, the film examines how the corporate ethos can destroy family ties, people's lives and happiness. It asks a profound inner, and deeply topical, question: how do people maintain their humanity in a dehumanized economic environment?

The 3 finalists will be subtitled in the 24 official languages of the European Union, while the winning film, voted for by the Members of the European Parliament, will be further adapted for visually and hearing impaired. The winner will also receive promotional support during its international release.

This year, 28 Times Cinema, another outcome of the fruitful partnership between the European Parliament LUX Film Prize and Venice Days, kicks off for the seventh time. Thanks to the collaboration with Europa Cinemas and Cineuropa, 28 young cinephiles aged 18 to 26 will get the chance to act as the jury for the Venice Days Award. Additionally, the group will be totally immersed in the LUX Film Prize experience, watching the 3 films of the Official Competition. This special event is ample preparation for their role as LUX Film Prize "ambassadors", where they might present the 5th edition of the LUX Film Days in their respective countries.

During the LUX Film Days period, all 751 members of the European Parliament will be invited to vote for one of three films in competition. On November 23rd, the winner of the LUX Film Prize will be announced at the formal sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in the presence of the directors.

The nine previous LUX Film Prize winners have been:
Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (2015), Ida by Pawel Pawlikowski (2014), The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix van Groeningen (2013), Io sono Li by Andrea Segre (2012), Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro by Robert Guédiguian (2011), Die Fremde by Feo Aladag (2010), Welcome by Philippe Lioret (2009), Le silence de Lorna by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (2008) and Auf der anderen Seite by Fatih Akin (2007).