For the LUX Audience Award, an international commission led by 2022 This year, Mike Downey, the chairman of the European Film Academy, selected the 2021 The military drama "Quo Vadis, Aida?" (dir. Jasmila Žbanić), recognized as the best film at the European Film Awards, 2021. The film "Flee", directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, which won laurels for the best documentary and feature-length animated film at the European Film Awards, and the drama "Great Freedom", directed by Sebastian Meise, which was praised at the Cannes Film Festival.
"The LUX Audience Award initiative promotes the diversity of cultures, the values of the European Union, and also provides the support of the European Parliament and attention to the art of cinema. We invite everyone to come and see evocative and acclaimed films and choose the one you like best", invites Daiva Jakaitė, head of the European Parliament office in Lithuania.
All three LUX Audience Award nominees can be seen on Thursdays in May at free screenings at Pasaka cinema in Vilnius, Romuva cinema center in Kaunas and Garsas cinema center in Panevėžys, and then vote for one of the films you like at: luxaward.eu/lt. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in the European Parliament, which will be held on June 8 during the plenary session in Strasbourg. The film, which won the LUX Audience Award, will be adapted for visually and hearing impaired viewers and will be promoted in EU countries.
"Quo Vadis, Aida?": Srebrenica in 1995 - like Buča today
On May 5, the audience will see the film "Quo Vadis, Aida?" (directed by Jasmila Žbanić), which won more than 30 different awards at various prestigious festivals. in 2021 At the European Film Awards, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" was mentioned as many as three times when announcing the winners - in the nominations of best film, best director (J. Žbanić) and best actress (Jasna Đuričić). The film was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best foreign film.
"This is one of the best films of the last three years. "Quo Vadis, Aida?" I have seen three times, but affected by the war in Ukraine, I would like to watch the fourth one. We can compare the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica shown in the film with what happened in Buča these days," says film reviewer Edvinas Pukšta.
The drama goes to 1995. Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Aida works as a translator for the United Nations in the small town of Srebrenica. After the Serbian army occupied the city, her family, like thousands of other civilians, sought refuge in a UN camp. As a negotiator, Aida must translate vital information. What fate awaits her family and other people - salvation or death? How should she act?
It's hard to put into words
Dovilė Filmanavičiūtė, a lover of good cinema, admits that "Quo Vadis, Aida?" is a chilling, emotional and tense film that leaves no one indifferent. "I watched it for the first time as a new mother. It was insanely emotional to see the main character's determination and clinging to any straw possible to save her sons and husband. It's hard to describe in words, you have to see it," says D. Filmanavičiūtė.
According to her, in the context of the Ukrainian war, this film will sound even stronger and there will be even more emotional roller coasters. "The genocide in Srebrenica is something we cannot forget and we must tell about that horror to future generations so that it does not happen again. This film is so relevant today because history has such a bad quality that it repeats itself from time to time,” says the lover of good cinema.
E. Pukšta claims that J. Žbanić's film will be relevant for many more years, and he reveals one small secret to those coming to the screening. "Come into this film knowing that the two main characters, who are forced to be on opposite sides of the barricades, are played by a real-life husband and wife. These are Jasna Đuričić, the best European actress, and Boris Isakovičius, one of the most brilliant Serbian actors," invites E. Pukšta.
LUX European Cinema Thursdays in Vilnius, Kaunas and Panevėžys start on May 5.