Press Release

25/11/2009

Lux Prize goes to French Director Philippe Lioret. Doris Pack MEP

'Welcome', directed by Philippe Lioret, shows a swimming instructor, who, wishing to impress his wife and win her back, decides to secretly help out a young Kurdish refugee who wants to swim across the English Channel. The film won the jury over.

With the Lux prize, the European Parliament honours films which demonstrate the universal nature of European values, cultural diversity and European integration, and therefore encourage reflection on and discussion of European unification and its representation in the arts.

"'Welcome' reflects, in a very sensitive way, Europe's cultural diversity and provides insight into Europe's integration debate," explains Doris Pack, Chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Education. "There is no European consciousness, emotion or identity if we don't keep in mind the specific histories of each country, that is to say if we don't watch European films in order to discover the soul of Europe," stresses the MEP.

"That 'Welcome' won the Lux prize is an encouraging sign. We see this as a sign of support for the values which the film defends - commitment, solidarity and open-mindedness - against all attempts to go backwards," emphasizes the director, Lioret.

"There is only one film to win but I am very glad that the two competitor films will now be known by a wide public. 'Sturm' by the German director Hans Christian Schmid is a co-production from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands; 'Eastern Plays' is a Bulgarian-Swedish co-production by Bulgarian director Kamen Kalev. Both films were also very convincing", Pack explains.

The Award, worth roughly 87 000 euros, finances the subtitling of the winning film in the EU's 23 official languages, including an adaptation of the original version for the visually or hearing-impaired and either production of the winning film in 35-mm (cinema) format or a contribution to the DVD release for each EU Member State. In this way, Parliament aims to help break down language barriers that too often hinder the circulation of films throughout Europe.

The Lux Prize trophy is designed like the Tower of Babel to symbolise linguistic plurality and cultural diversity. In 2007 director Fatih Akin obtained it for "Auf der anderen Seite" and in 2008 the Belgian Dardenne brothers with "La silence de Lorna".

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For further information:
Doris Pack MEP, Tel: +32-2-2847310
Stella Mancini, EPP Group Press Service, Tel: +32-473-866138

Notes to Editors:
The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 265 Members.