Latest news with #LUXAudienceAward
Euronews
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
'Flow' wins LUX Audience Award 2025
ADVERTISEMENT It's the little kitty that could... The Oscar winning animated film Straume ( Flow ) , directed by Gints Zilbalodis, has won this year's LUX Audience Award , the pan-European audience film prize which champions EU co-productions that engage with topical issues and encourage debate about European values. The Latvian, French, Belgian co-production tells the story of Cat, a solitary animal whose home is devastated by a great flood. In his efforts to adapt to a new world, Cat finds refuge on a boat populated by other animals. This wonderful animated fantasy adventure, created using the free and open-source software Blender, is notable for its lack of dialogue and striking imagery. Flow debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section to great critical acclaim, and already won various awards including Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards , Golden Globes and the Oscars , beating competition from big US productions including Moana 2 and Inside Out 2 . It was declared the winner at a ceremony the European Parliament hemicycle in Brussels. And the winner is... European Union 2025 - Source : EP 'The LUX Audience Award is more than just a prize. It is a testament to the European Parliament's commitment to democracy, freedom of expression and the role of cinema in reflecting and shaping our societies,' said European Parliament Vice-President Sabine Verheyen during the award ceremony. 'It brings European stories closer to people and brings people closer to the work of the European Parliament,' she added. Flow wins LUX Audience Award European Union 2025 - Source : EP Indeed, Flow deals with issues like climate change, migration, displacement, and resilience. In our Best Movies of 2024 countdown, we said: "The detailed micro-characteristics of each species, like the overly-keen labrador, the grumpy capybara and the inscrutable secretarybird, create endearing dynamics that float themes of friendship and the importance of banding together despite differences. While the topic of climate change also looms large, Flow is most rewarding when viewed as a simple story told beautifully - at points rather stressful, but ultimately life-affirming catnip for the soul." Check out our review here . Flow wins LUX Audience Award 2025 European Union 2025 - Source : EP 'We have had five compelling narratives and five very different LUX Audience Award nominees: they are an inspiration to filmmakers and the public alike, not only for celebrating the extraordinary variety of European cinema but also for demonstrating its ability to entertain and elevate at the same time,' said Mike Downey, honorary president of the LUX Selection Committee and chair of the European Film Academy , following the announcement of the winner. 'The cinematic art in Europe is a perfect example of how culture can make a significant contribution to society and advocate for compassion, empathy and change in an otherwise divided world', added Downey. Team Flow European Union 2025 - Source : EP The four other films shortlisted for the award were Animal by Greek director Sofia Exarchou; Golden Bear winner Dahomey by French director Mati Diop; Intercepted by Ukranian director Oksana Karpovych; and Julie Keeps Quiet by Belgian director Leonardo van Dijl.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LUX Audience Award 2025 Nominees Include Oscar-Winning ‘Flow' and Ukraine War Doc ‘Intercepted'
The largest audience award in the world, the LUX Audience Award, sees citizens and members of the democratically elected European Parliament coming together yearly to honor a European film with their coveted prize. This year's slate of highly-acclaimed nominees include Gints Zibalodis's history-making 'Flow,' which just won Latvia its first ever Oscar for Best Animated Film, and Mati Diop's 'Dahomey,' the first film by a Black filmmaker to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. A joint initiative of the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in collaboration with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas, the LUX Audience Award 'fosters dialogue and engagement between politics and the public through the medium of film.' Nominated films address 'European values' as well as raising 'awareness about some of today's main social and political issues.' Throughout the competition period, the European Parliament provides subtitles in 24 EU languages and organizes free screenings across all European Union member states. Previous winners of the LUX Audience Award include Lukas Dhont's 'Close' and Jasmila Žbanić's 'Quo Vadis, Aida?' Voting for the LUX Audience Award closes in April, followed by an awards ceremony on a date yet to be confirmed. Below, you can find short profiles on all of this year's nominated films: 'Animal' by Sofia Exarchou (Greece, Austria, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria) The first Greek film in 30 years to win the Golden Alexander at Greece's prestigious Thessaloniki Film Festival, 'Animal' is the follow-up to Exarchou's lauded debut 'Park,' which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and won the New Directors Award in San Sebastian. The film, which tells the story of a group of entertainers preparing for the busy tourist season at an all-inclusive resort as nights turn increasingly violent, picked up several other awards during its successful festival run, including acting awards at Thessaloniki and Locarno for Dimitra Vlagopoulou. 'Dahomey' by Mati Diop (France, Senegal, Benin) Diop became the first-ever Black filmmaker to win the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2024 with her follow-up to 2019's highly acclaimed 'Atlantics.' In a history-making moment, it was Lupita Nyong'o — the first Black president of the Berlinale's International Jury — who handed Diop the award for her beguiling hybrid documentary, following the return of 26 royal treasures from Paris to their titular home of Dahomey in Benin. In her review, Variety's Jessica Kiang called 'Dahomey' 'a striking, stirring example of the poetry that can result when the dead and the dispossessed speak to and through the living.' 'Flow' by Gints Zibalodis (Latvia, France, Belgium) In the ten months since premiering at Un Certain Regard in Cannes, Zibalodis's story about a black cat befriending several animals in the aftermath of a devastating flood has become the most-viewed film in theaters in Latvian history, with over 255,000 admissions. The film also gave Latvia its first ever Oscar nominations — for both Best International Film and Best Animated Film. Zibalodis's film won the latter award, becoming the first ever independent film to win the category and beating major studio contenders such as 'The Wild Robot' and 'Inside Out 2.' 'Intercepted' by Oksana Karpovych (Canada, France, Ukraine) Karpovych's foreboding documentary mixes intercepted phone calls of Russian soldiers between March and November of 2022 with images of the destruction in Ukraine to investigate the mechanisms of war. The film was shot over two years, with footage captured in Donbas and the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions. 'Intercepted' premiered at the Berlinale and had a successful festival run, including picking up the Grand Prize for National Feature at the Montreal International Documentary Festival. Variety's Murtada Elfadl called Karpovych's film 'a political snapshot laying bare how both belief in propaganda and disillusionment with leaders can co-exist and lead to apathy.' 'Julie Keeps Quiet' by Leonardo van Dijl (Belgium, Sweden)Van Dijl's feature debut follows the titular Julie, the star of an elite tennis academy who is faced with a great dilemma when her coach is investigated and suspended from his duties. The film, which premiered in Critics' Week at Cannes, went on to have a prestigious festival run, playing festivals such as Karlovy Vary, Toronto, and London, and was selected as Belgium's Oscar entry. In his review, Variety's Guy Lodge said, 'Julie Keeps Quiet' 'knows the value of control — though its own calm is fraught with anxiety and anger.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025
