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The winner of the 2026 edition of the LUX Audience Award will be chosen equally by EU citizens and their elected representatives in the European Parliament. But before the winner is announced, Euronews hosted a debate with directors, producers and actors from the five films in competition.
The final films explored themes of love, family, freedom, identity and more.
Love me tender is a French film about a woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband takes custody of her son after she tells him that she is having romantic relationships with women.
Actress Rachel Khan explained how films like this help to address the topic of LBGTQIA+ discrimination in Europe.
“The reality of this community is still complex because we can see that their condition might have evolved through Europe, but it remains uneven because you can see it’s more in the deep social circles that LGBTQIA+ people can be threatened and can be questioned as authentically being themselves,” she said.
“So I think it’s still a debate, and we still need some movies and directors, people doing art to stir the debate around how we accept people living outside social norms.”
All finalist films competing for this year’s LUX Audience Award seemed to stir the socio-political pot, touching on relevant topics with the goal of making change.
Eva Libertad, director of Sorda (Deaf) – one of Euronews Culture’s favourite films of 2025 -said she hopes her movie makes an impact on viewers in the deaf and hearing communities. She said she has already received messages about how the film changed people’s perspective on deafness.
“I think that this movie helps people to think about normality,” she explained. “I think that the true normality is diversity. Normality does not exist.”
Powerful messaging like this is a common thread amongst the finalist films. And the competing award-winning movie makers will stop at nothing to make their messages heard.
Director of It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi, is critical of the Iranian government and has been imprisoned several times. He made his movie without official filming permission from the Iranian authorities.
“The message in the film is: How to organise ourselves to rebuild a democracy knowing that this democracy will have to be built with the people who have sowed terror,” said Philippe Martin, producer of It Was Just an Accident.
“We will have to find a solution. And will this solution be forgiveness? Or will the solution be revenge? That’s the moral question that is asked.”
Cinema is an art form that is constantly posing moral questions to audiences. But movies can do more than that, too. Like all art, movies are meant to entertain, connect and evoke emotion.
“I think art is a huge thing that stands the test of time with any generation,” said Diarmuid Noyes, actor in Christy.
The Irish/UK production covers themes of youth, working class life and child protection. Noyes said art can be like a form of therapy, especially for younger generations.
“I think that’s something that the younger generation can really benefit from. I think that will really help bring out their voices again.”
The winning film is chosen equally by EU citizens and their elected representatives in the European Parliament, each group’s choice weighted at 50%.