Lux Film Prize Press Conference
Valeria Golino
A press conference with Valeria Golino to present the LUX Film Prize, awarded annually by the European Parliament, was held on Thursday, 7 November 2013, at the 54th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Valeria Golino's film, Honey, is one of the three films competing for this year's LUX Prize, which are screened exclusively by TIFF.
Present at the event were director Valeria Golino; the film’s producer Riccardo Scamarcio; MEP Chrysoula Paliadeli, who is also a member of the European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education; film critic Michel Dimopoulos, a member of the expert committee responsible for the selection of the films competing for the LUX prize; and the head of the European Parliament press office in Greece, Leonidas Antonakopoulos.
Valeria Golino expressed her joy for being at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, adding that, strangely, she has trouble discussing her film in Greek, despite Greek being her mother tongue.
Mr Antonakopoulos gave an overview of the LUX prize, explaining that it was instituted by the European Parliament in 2007 and is considered an initiative of great importance for Europe. Mr Antonakopoulos then praised the role of Mrs Paliadeli in promoting the institution and connecting it to the Thessaloniki Film Festival, adding: "This is one of the most important prizes in Europe, awarded by the European Parliament as part of a wider effort to promote European culture. The LUX prize also proves that the European Parliament is not interested in and involved only with politics and technical matters, but is also keen on promoting culture and film production."
Ms Paliadeli said that the LUX prize has already become intimately connected to the city of Thessaloniki, adding: "I am glad that TIFF has included the LUX prize in its actions in the past two years. It is an important award that not only proves that MEPs support culture, but also that they are interested in supporting the policy of multiculturalism, in other words that of diversity within European unity." She went on to stress the importance of audience participation in determining the winner through online voting. "This is an optimistic aspect of Europe, which is currently suffering from a crisis that extends beyond the economy. Audience participation in the vote for best film augurs the public’s participation in the upcoming European Parliament elections. Voting in the EP elections is essential if we want our vote to help the fight against euro-skepticism and the extreme right."
Mr Dimopoulos explained the criteria the experts use to make the selection of the three finalists. Initially there are ten candidate films and the selection process for the best three lasts six months. "The Committee has 15 members: film critics, directors, producers, distributors, and other representatives of the film industry, so many different views are expressed. The social dimension and European character of the films are, together with their overall quality, the major criteria used in the selection. The films are promoted in festivals and special events taking place in all 28 EU member states — the TIFF plays an important part in this."
The panelists then discussed Honey, a film adaptation of the novel "A Nome Tuo" by Mauro Covacich that focuses on the issue of euthanasia. Explaining her decision to deal with such a difficult subject, Ms Golino said: "Three years ago, while editing my first short film, I read a deeply disturbing novel, which made me think hard on the issue and inspired me to make this film." She initially thought about starring in the film, but after she talked the matter over with producers she decided to direct it. "I did not cast myself, because I did not want to work with me," the Greek-Italian director said jokingly, adding: "I knew funding in Italy would be hard to secure for a film dealing with such an important theme about ethics. I do not want to sound heroic, but the truth is that it is very difficult to produce anything except comedies in Italy today. These are the worst times for making the kind of cinema I am interested in. We had to fight a tough battle."
Mr Scamarcio said that he is an actor and that Honey is the first film he ever produced. "We are proud of the film. We had a hard time finding financing, but we had faith in the film and its importance. After a modest start, RAI came along - the only institution left in Italy that keeps financing films, except for the ministry of Culture, which also provides modest subsidies. But if you believe in a film, in a story, you can emerge victorious, as we did.”
Ms Golino also addressed the issue of funding, noting that, in some respects, having a limited budget is better: "We did not have to ask for a lot of money from a few sources; instead, we secured small funds from many sources. This gave us the freedom to make the film we wanted, without having anyone breathing over our necks. In Europe, small budgets are better for the independence of the filmmaker."
Ms Golino then expressed her surprise at the fact that her film, despite its difficult subject, achieved a distinction at the Cannes Film Festival (it won the 2013 Cannes Film Festival Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury) and was warmly received by the Italian audience. "The film is surrounded by positive energy”, she said.
Commenting on the role of music in her film, she said that she avoided assigning the soundtrack to a composer, because she preferred to be able to select songs representing different genres. "It was not my intention to move the audience or lead it to a particular direction with the soundtrack."
Addressing a question on the legal aspects of the issue of euthanasia, Valeria Golino said that it is important for Europe to vote new and effective laws. "This is one of the most pressing and important ethical issues of our day, especially in religious countries like Greece and Italy. I think that the people are more open and ready compared to their governments - we expect that governments listen to their people and take initiatives at the European level."
Despite working in cinema for the past 30 years and having made 75 films as an actress - "I have been involved in films since I was 16, ever since I can remember myself" - Ms Golino felt like she was "going back to school" for her directorial debut. "I wish I had gotten into directing earlier. It would have made me better and more knowledgeable". She added that she plans on resuming the role of director in the future.
The two other films competing for this year's LUX prize are The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix van Groeningen and The Selfish Giant by Clio Barnard. The audience can vote on its favorite film by visiting the website luxprize.eu or the Facebook page of the LUX prize.
The films competing for the LUX prize are part of the Open Horizons section, one of the actions of the 54th TIFF financed by the European Union - European Regional
The films competing for the LUX prize are part of the “Open Horizons” section, one of the actions of the 54th TIFF financed by the European Union - European Regional Development Fund, in the framework of the Regional Programme for Central Macedonia - 2007-2013.
