The selection committee of the LUX Prize, consisting of 17 film professionals from around Europe, chooses ten films for the Official Selection, and subsequently, three films in Competition which will bring up a winner. Since 2007, the LUX Prize has been intended to cast an annual spotlight on films that go to the heart of the European public debate. The winner does not receive a direct grant. Instead, the Parliament pays to subtitle the film into the EU’s 23 official languages and for it to be adapted for the visually or hearing impaired. It also funds the production of a 35mm print (and/or DCP) for each Member State. Past winners include Shun Li and the Poet , The Snows of Kilimanjaro, When We Leave, Lorna’s Silence, Welcome, and The Edge of Heaven.

The “Will Europe Be Creative?” discussion will gather film professionals to talk to Silvia Costa about the current state of the programme. Designed to put the whole culture industry of Europe under one umbrella, the multiannual framework for the period 2014-2020 will bring together the Culture, MEDIA and MEDIA Mundus programmes.

But there are numerous questions about how the programme is going to work practically, especially for the audiovisual field. “It’s essential to ensure that this super-program take account of the specific nature of cultural and creative sectors, particularly audiovisual sector, as well as their particular needs through made to measure approaches in two independent programs, though,” Costa told Cineuropa in February.

Also, there is the matter of a budget cut- Parliament has proposed a €1.8 million budget the ministers Counsel wants to reduce. “It would be an unacceptable reduction of more than a third part –from €1.8 to €1.3 million - and it’s a proposition from the Creative Europe budget commission, new 2014-2020 programme, because of the reductions the Counsel made in its new long-term plan, that’s not shared by the European Parliament,” said Costa.

There is an ongoing petition online by the association Culture Action Europe, which represents more than 100 organizations and artists in Europe, as well as by the cultural Forum Eurocité, called “We are more, act for culture in Europe”, to fight the reduction and to at least try to keep the starting budget at €1.8 million.