The LUX Audience Award campaign, organised by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, has returned for this year’s edition.
In collaboration with the European Parliament Office in Malta, Spazju Kreattiv and The Citadel Cinema are showing all five films in Valletta and Gozo during the months of March and April.
Films will be screened with English and Maltese subtitles, and all screenings are open to the public free of charge.
Audiences can rate the films by April with a chance to win a range of exciting prizes, including a trip to the European Parliament to attend the LUX Award Ceremony in April and meet directors and film crews of the nominees.
The screenings in Gozo will take place on five consecutive Sundays starting on today, March 2, with Intercepted. Animal will follow on March 9, Dahomey on March 16, Julie Keeps Quiet on March 23 and Flow on April 6.
The screenings in Malta will start on March 18 with Intercepted, followed by Animal on March 26, Dahomey on April 3, Julie Keeps Quiet on April 10 and Flow on April 15.
For show times and further information, visit The Citadel Cinema and Spazju Kreattiv websites.
The five nominees
Intercepted (Canada, France, Ukraine; 95 min) directed by Oksana Karpovych, is an attempt to find an answer by showing two parallel worlds. The camera registers images of destruction in unhurried shots, in which we see Ukrainian villages, towns, houses and motorways after their liberation from the Russian occupation. We listen to the recordings of telephone conversations intercepted in 2022 by the Ukrainian Secret Service between Russian soldiers in trenches in Ukraine and their families.
Animal (Greece, Austria, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria; 116 min) directed by Sofia Exarchou, takes place under the hot Greek sun and involves animateurs at an all-inclusive island resort preparing for the busy touristic season. Kalia is the leader of the pack. Paper decors, glossy costumes and dance shows fill the stage. As summer intensifies and the work pressure builds up, their nights become violent and Kalia’s struggle is revealed in the darkness. But when the spotlights turn on again, the show must go on.
Dahomey (France, Senegal, Benin; 67 min) directed by Mati Diop, involves 26 royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey which are about to leave Paris to return to their country of origin, the present-day Republic of Benin. Along with thousands of others, these artefacts were plundered by French colonial troops in 1892. But what attitude to adopt to these ancestors’ homecoming in a country that had to forge ahead in their absence? The debate rages among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi.
Julie Keeps Quiet (Belgium, Sweden; 100 min) is directed by Leonardo van Dijl. As the star player at an elite tennis academy, Julie’s life revolves around the game she loves. When her coach falls under investigation and is suddenly suspended, all of the club’s players are encouraged to speak up. But Julie decides to keep quiet...
Flow (Latvia, France, Belgium; 85 min) is directed by Gints Zilbalodis. The world seems to be coming to an end, teeming with the vestiges of a human presence. Cat is a solitary animal but as its home is devastated by a great flood, it finds refuge on a boat populated by various species and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world.