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| Ray And Liz Photo: Courtesy of New York Film Festival |
The short list for the prize - supported by the European Parliament as a way of promoting European cinema within the European Union countries - was devised by 21 European film professionals, including fiction, documentaries and first features.
The official line-up was announced by the European Parliament´s Vice-Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education Helga Trüpel, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control Martina Dlabajová, LUX Prize coordinator Doris Pack, and Benedikt Erlingsson, director of 2018 LUX Prize winner Woman At War.
The selection of Richard Billingham's Ray & Liz, which is an unflinching consideration of his own childhood and chaotic home life, may be the last time the UK is eligible for consideration due to Brexit.
The aim of the LUX Prize is to spotlight the wealth and the diversity that characterise European cinema by selecting films which deal, in different ways, with European issues – especially what makes us think, divides us or brings us closer to each other.
European cinema's wealth is described as "multidimensional: diversity, talents and a long history which sheds light on the melting pot of individual and collective identities".
Since 2007, the LUX Prize is a true symbol of the support brought by the European Parliament to the European film industry and its great, relentless creativity.
Members of the Parliament are eligible to vote on the films on the short list with the winning title announced in November.
The complete selection (in alphabetical order):
- Clergy (Kler) - Wojciech Smarzowski (Poland)
- Cold Case Hammarskjöld - Mads Brügger (Denmark/Norway/Sweden/Belgium/UK/Germany)
- God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (Gospod postoi, imeto i´e Petrunya) -Teona Strugar Mitevska (North Macedonia/Belgium/Slovenia/ France/Croatia)
- Her Job (I Doulia tis) – Nikos Labôt (Greece/France/Serbia)
- Honeyland (Medena zemja) - Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov (North Macedonia)
- Invisibles (Les invisibles) – Louis-Julien Petit (France)
- Ray & Liz – Richard Billingham (UK)
- System Crasher (Systemsprenger) – Nora Fingscheidt (Germany)
- The Man Who Surprised Everyone (Tchelovek, kotorij udivil vsekh)– Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov (Russian Federation/Estonia/France)
- The Realm (El reino) – Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain/France)
