This year’s shortlist for the LUX Film Prize was unveiled on 25 July  in Rome by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, during a "Giornate degli autori" press conference. The three finalists competing for the 11th edition of the European Parliament's annual film award are:

• BPM (Beats per minute), by Robin Campillo – France
• Sámi Blood, by Amanda Kernell – Sweden, Denmark, Norway
• Western, by Valeska Grisebach – Germany, Bulgaria, Austria

BPM (Beats per minute) by French director Robin Campillo depicts the solidarity, sense of humour and determination of a group of activists fighting for more visibility about the problem of AIDS and for faster progress in prevention and cure in France in the early nineties.

Sámi Blood by Swedish director Amanda Kernell tells the story of a 14-year-old Lapp girl who abandons her community because she dreams of a different life but has to face racist attitudes.

Western by German director Valeska Grisebach uses the ingredients of cowboys-and-Indians classics to address the issues of economic immigration and integration and to tell a story about German workers on a construction site for a hydroelectric power station in beautiful natural surroundings in Bulgaria. What is unique is that all the great actors in the movie – both Bulgarian and German – are not professionals: they are German workers and builders, as well as people from the Bulgarian villages in the area of Gotse Delchev and Hadzhidimovo. Under the surface the film is a truly modern western.

European movies in European cinemas

The films will be coming to some cinemas in Europe in the next couple of weeks but your best chance to see them is during the LUX Film Days this autumn. Thanks to European Parliament support, the three films will be subtitled in the 24 official EU languages and shown in 50 cities and at several festivals across Europe.

The winning film will be chosen by MEPs and announced on 15 November during the Strasbourg plenary session in the presence of the directors.