"Sami Blood" won the LUX Prize for year 2017
„Sami Blood“, a co-production of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, won the eleventh LUX Prize. This was announced by the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani on November 14 in Strasbourg. President Tajani congratulated the teams of the three film finalists with the following words:
"The LUX Film Prize is at one of the leading places when it comes to promoting films produced in Europe, our creative industry and our cultural and linguistic diversity. The "Seventh Art" was born here in Europe, and is the engine for the development of our culture, values and dialogue. This year's edition of the awards paves the way for a successful 2018, which is also a European Year of Cultural Heritage. And it does not consist only of literature and art, it includes the stories we tell and the films we watch. It is the fabric of our lives and societies, and the thread that connects our past to our future.”
„Sami Blood“ is a 2016 Swedish coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Amanda Kernell, as her feature film debut. It tells the story of a young Sami girl who leaves her community because she is dreaming of a different life. But in order to achieve her goal, she must face racial, cultural and social prejudices.
Watch the LUX Prize finalists - FREE ENTRY!
Within the framework of the traditional LUX Film Days in early December, the screening of the three finalists will be free entry - "Western", "Sami Blood" and "120 Beats Per Minute". They will be presented to the Bulgarian audience in seven different cities. The events in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Blagoevgrad, Pleven, Stara Zagora and Smolyan are organized by the EP Information Office in Bulgaria, and in partnership with Sofia Film Fest.
SOFIA - CINEMA HOUSE/Dom na Kinoto
December 1st (Friday) - 19:00
"Western" by Valeska Grisebach
December 2nd (Saturday) - 19:00
"Sami Blood", award winner by Amanda Kernel
December 3 rd (Sunday) - 19:00
"120 BPM" (120 battements par minute) by Robben Campillo
PLOVDIV
December 4th, 18:30, Lucky – Cinema House
"120 BPM", by Robben Campillo /France/
VARNA
December 5th, 19:00, Festival and Congress center Varna, Europe Hall
"Sami Blood", by Amanda Kernell /Sweden, Norway, Denmark/
BLAGOEVGRAD
December 7th, 19:00, CINEMAX theatre
"120 BPM", by Robben Campillo /France/
PLEVEN
December 11th, 19:00, Arena cinema, Panorama Mall Pleven
"Western", by Valeska Grisebach /Germany, Bulgaria, Austria/
STARA ZAGORA
December 12th, 19:00, Arena cinema, Stara Zagora Mall
"Sami Blood", by Amanda Kernell /Sweden, Norway, Denmark/
SMOLYAN
December 13th, 19:00, Arena cinema
"Western", by Valeska Grisebach /Germany, Bulgaria, Austria/
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Three finalists of three young directors
The three films from the official competition of 2017 are the works of talented young directors.
This selection is a wonderful and reliable proof of Europe’s cinematic traditions and the vitality of European cinema.
"Western", by Valeska Grisebach /Germany, Bulgaria, Austria/: In her third feature film (and first after her participation in Berlinale in 2006 with Drowning), the German director Valeska Grisebach presents "a story about German construction workers and in a delicate way reworks the genre rules of the western, transposing them into a deep Bulgarian province nowadays. " (Cineuropa) "A sharp, boiling drama from Germany about the cultural clash". (Variety)
A group of German construction workers start a tough job at a remote site in the Bulgarian countryside. The foreign land awakens the men's sense of adventure, but they are also confronted with their own prejudice and mistrust due to the language barrier and cultural differences. The stage is quickly set for a showdown when men begin to compete for recognition and favour from the local villagers.
"Sami Blood", by Amanda Kernell /Sweden, Norway, Denmark/: The debut film by the Swedish director Amanda Kernell, whose origin is from the sami community, raises the question, "Can you really become someone else?” It presents a truth about the consequences of breaking all ties with ones history of culture and birthplace. Her film is a poignant, classic narrative about coming-of-age of a young girl exposed to social prejudices of the 1930s. "Sami Blood" skilfully portrays the youthful fears that resonate across borders and generations, of the overwhelmingly specific, rarely depicted cultural context: the colonial oppression of the Swedish Sami people.” (Variety)
The film tells the story of Ella-Marja, a fourteen-year-old girl coming from Sami family of slaves. Being humiliated by "benevolent" Swedes, she begins dreaming of another life. In order to achieve it, she has to become someone else and break all ties with her family and culture...
"120 Beats Per Minute" by Robben Campillo /France/: "Four years after Boys of the East received broad recognition, Robben Campillo presents an exciting and heartbreaking group portrait of Parisian activists fighting for the rights of people with AIDS in the early 90s of 20th century. By combining "personal, political and erotic," he offers a "rare and invaluable, non-American view of the global health crisis that hit the gay community on the eve of the 21st century." (Variety)
Paris, the early 1990s - a group of young activists is making desperate attempts to find a cure for an unknown deadly disease. They are directing their struggle against pharmaceutical laboratories that have potential cure, by taking concrete actions in hopes of saving their lives and the fate of future generations ...
European parliament Lux Film Prize
The LUX European Film Prize aims to promote the diversity and richness of European cinema, as well as to promote European cinematographic productions that reveal the public concerns and the spirit of Europeans, their lives, their beliefs and doubts, their search for identity. Each year the European Parliament organizes LUX film days presenting the finalists in the competition program. The idea is to overcome the main barrier to European cinema - language, with films being screed for free and subtitled in all 24 official EU languages.
LUX Film Prize Audience Mention
We invite the audience to vote for their preference from the three movies on www.luxprize.eu or on the LUX FILM PRIZE Facebook page. The results of the audiences’ vote are announced at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. One of the voters who is invited to attend the festival is chosen at random. Announcing the Special Prize to the audience symbolically conceals the LUX Prize for the previous year and opens the stage for the new one, listing the ten films from the official selection.
What is the LUX Prize?
The LUX Prize is a film prize that has been awarded by the European Parliament since 2007. It has two main objectives: to publicize the debate on Europe and to promote the distribution of European co-productions within the EU.
Since its inauguration, the award has attracted the attention of Europeans every year to films that are at the heart of the European public debate. Beyond the stories they tell, these films raise important issues: the values we share as Europeans, how we deal with common cross-border issues such as immigration, justice, solidarity, public freedoms and fundamental rights. Each year the films are selected by film industry representatives who together form the jury. The three finalists are the result of their choice. The film that wins the prize is chosen by the members of the European Parliament.
"28 Times Cinema" Project
From 2010, the "28 Times Cinema" project has been popularized by the LUX FILM PRIZE in collaboration with "Venice Days" and "Europa Cinemas" and supported by "Cineuropa". This initiative brings together 28 young cinema fans from all over Europe who take part in a special jury in Venice. They are between the ages of 18 and 25 and are present at the screenings, and have a commitment to participate in discussions about European cinema, also to present the prize. The 28 Times Cinema program includes the screenings of the three finalists participating in the LUX FILM PRIZE competition.
Expect more details on the SOCIAL NETWORK, on the LUX Prize website as well as on the sites of the EP Information Office in Bulgaria and the Sofia International Film Festival Film Fest.