• The Cineuropa Award is given to a film that besides having indisputable artistic qualities also brings out the idea of European dialogue and integration
• The Prize is given by one or more qualified editors or collaborators chosen by Cineuropa and present at the Festival
• The Prize is given to a film produced or co-produced by a country participating in the MEDIA Programme or member of Eurimages
• The Prize consists of promotion on the Cineuropa site, including a special newsletter dedicated to the film (including a review, an interview with the director, and trailers and excerpts), which will be sent to our mailing list of over 50,000 subscribers.

The Prize is awarded at the following partner festivals:

Trieste Film Festival
Mons International Love Film Festival
Vilnius Film Festival - Kino Pavasaris
Lecce European Film Festival
Cinema City International Film Festival
Sarajevo International Film Festival
Istanbul Film Festival
Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival
Les Arcs European Film Festival

Three Kilometres to the End of the World

Three Kilometres to the End of the World by Emanuel Pârvu, Sarajevo Film Festival 2024

Three Kilometres to the End of the World is a solid film creating an emotional map of a small Romanian village with precise and strong direction, great performances and the typical satirical style of the new Romanian cinema – and the director is a talent to watch in the future.

If Only I Could Hibernate

If Only I Could Hibernate by Zoljargal Purevdash, Mons International Love Film Festival 2024

If Only I Could Hibernate captivates audiences with its profound narrative, exceptional cinematography, and stirring performances. As we delve into the heart of this film, we are transported into a realm where human emotions intertwine with nature's rhythms, creating a tapestry of introspection and longing. At its core lies a deeply resonant exploration of the human condition. Through its poignant storytelling, the film invites viewers to reflect on themes of youth and resilience. Each frame is meticulously crafted to evoke a sense of wonder and contemplation, drawing audiences into a mesmerising journey of acceptance.

Without Air

Without Air by Katalin Moldovai, Trieste Film Festival 2024

A debut feature by a director whose film has laid bare, in original fashion, the fundamental issue of freedom of expression and thought, and the mechanisms of censorship. Without Air gradually takes your breath away: the crescendo of the plot, in which the protagonist is marginalised, discredited, isolated by her colleagues and abandoned by her students – against their will – is paradigmatic of the progressive decrease in freedom of speech in many of our countries, of the fragility of our democracies and of increasingly widespread censorship.

Explanation for Everything

Explanation for Everything by Gábor Reisz, Les Arcs Film Festival 2023

The film is a complex puzzle of remarkable simplicity, opening up a vast field for thought on modern-day Hungarian society, but also more broadly on education and 21st century youth. It’s a very well-acted portrait which the filmmaker is intelligent enough to present the many facets of, suggesting that beyond political (op)positions, it’s not too easy to distinguish between truths and lies.

Animal

Animal by Sofia Exarchou, Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival 2023

The film has a smart and original way of condemning all-inclusive mass tourism and the downward spiral into capitalism. The movie trains the spotlight on a weak woman in denial, caught in a trap that she has laid for herself, supposedly to make her dream of performing on stage come true - except the very thing that the stage has robbed her of is exactly that: her dreams.

Vasil

Vasil by Avelina Prat, Lecce European Film Festival 2023

The film is a clever critique of Spanish society, condemning its closed-mindedness and blinkered view of the world, especially among the middle class. On the other hand, the movie is about human dialogue and deals with it in a universal way. The auteur comes to the conclusion that the cultural and personal spheres remain unknown, even when they are close together, but leaves the door ajar for hope and mutual understanding.

Medium

Medium by Christina Ioakeimidi, Sarajevo Film Festival 2023

With our lives constantly in the fast lane, we have a tendency to ignore even our feelings. Medium conveys human-first experiences and emotions through Eleftheria's naïve eyes and never-ending curiosity, plus the intensity of human connections, and it affords us this flashback to those first discoveries that shaped who we are now.

Le Cours de la Vie

Le Cours de la Vie by Frédéric Sojcher, Mons International Love Film Festival 2023

Le Cours de la Vie begins with a simple premise: cinema is life, and life is cinema. Over the course of one, long spring day, when every single hope becomes a possibility, and when feelings wish for nothing but to be rekindled and romances just want to blossom, a couple of exes come to terms with the past and young students settle their score with the present.

Butterfly Vision

Butterfly Vision by Maksym Nakonechnyi, Trieste Film Festival 2023

We chose Butterfly Vision because of its style and its direction, which borrows from both classic and contemporary cinema, and offers multiple viewing angles with traditional cameras, drones, televisual material and social media. Because it tells of the catharsis of a modern woman, a heroine of her own liberation who shuns the status of the "victim". A soldier traumatised by war, who questions what had seemed obvious to her. A metaphor, if you will, for the self-determination of the Ukrainian people. We also chose it for the moving restraint and tenacious stoicism found in Rita Burkovska's performance.

Skin Deep

Skin Deep by Alex Schaad, Les Arcs Film Festival 2022

In Skin Deep, the director cleverly turns a familiar sci-fi premise and a genre usually associated with comedy into an unexpected and moving portrait of love and acceptance. The approach is as fresh and singular as the protagonists we root for.