President Roberta Metsola awarded the 2022 LUX European Audience Film Award to “Quo vadis, Aida?” by Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanic, during a ceremony on Wednesday.
“This film is a strong call for justice for the women and mothers of Srebrenica who witnessed the atrocious killing of over 8,000 loved ones. Such horrendous atrocities and such a crime against humanity must never be forgotten,” said President Metsola at the ceremony, which took place in the Strasbourg hemicycle.
“The LUX Audience Award builds bridges between our political work and the creative work of filmmakers in Europe. LUX films echo through art the sentiment of the fight for civil rights, human rights, justice, democracy and freedom,” she added.
Accepting the award, director Jasmila Žbanic said: “When I was preparing a film about the genocide in Srebrenica, I was thinking that the war in Bosnia, in Croatia, in our region was the last one in Europe. I was so shocked to learn that we, Europeans, allowed war in Ukraine. I urge you all to find a way to stop the war in Ukraine.”
Srebrenica massacre survivor, president of Mothers of Srebrenica Association Munira Subašic, who also addressed MEPs, said: “In Ukraine, mothers are crying, looking for the bones of their sons. So I beg you to stop the war in Ukraine so that as few mothers in the world as possible have to suffer.”
The other two films shortlisted for the award were: Flee by Danish director Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Great Freedom by Austrian director Sebastian Meise.
Read more about the LUX Audience Award nominees
The winning film was chosen by combining a public vote and a vote by MEPs, with each weighed at 50%. The audience vote was open until 25 May, and MEPs could vote until 7 June.
About the winning film
“Quo vadis, Aida?”, by Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanic, was produced by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Netherlands, France, Poland, Norway, Germany, Romania and Turkey. Aida is a translator for the peacekeeping forces in the summer of 1995, in Srebrenica. Her family is among the thousands of civilians seeking shelter in the UN camp. Aida learns that a terrible fate awaits her family and people, but can she do anything to stop it?
Press conference and related events
You can watch the press point with the winner, representatives of the European Film Academy, and European Parliament Vice-President Evelyn Regner, on Wednesday after the ceremony on EbS and EP Live.
Tune into our Facebook live with the winner at 14:15 CET.
Watch the video-recording of the press seminar with MEPs and representatives of the films that took place on Tuesday 7 June.
Background
Since 2020, the LUX European Audience Film Award has been awarded by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy.
Through its film prize, Parliament has been supporting the distribution of European films since 2007, by providing subtitles in 24 EU languages for the films in final contention.
The European Commission and Europa Cinemas network are also partners in the LUX Award.
Read more about the film selection process.
Source: Cyprus News Agency