• 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

The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season by Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens, Festival de Cinéma Européen des Arcs 2012

A mysterious calamity strikes a village deep in the Ardennes: spring refuses to come. The cycle of nature is capsized. Relationship deteriorate. Alice, Thomas and octave, three kids in the village, struggle to make sense of the world that is collapsing around them.

God's Horses

God's Horses by Nabil Ayouch, Mediterranean Film Festival of Brussels 2012

Nabil Ayouch retraces the convincing and impressive tale of a group of young boys from the Sidi Moumen slum in Casablanca who end up becoming terrorists, or martyrs, as their spiritual mentors would call them.

Hold Back

Hold Back by Rachid Djaïdani, Lisbon and Estoril Film Festival 2012

Dorcy, a young black Christian, wants to marry Sabrina, a young North African. It what would be a simple matter if it weren't for the fact that Sabrina has 40 brothers and that this easygoing wedding has crystallized a taboo still rooted in the mentalities of the two communities: no marriages between Blacks and Arabs.

Children of Sarajevo

Children of Sarajevo by Aida Begić, Sarajevo Film Festival 2012

Rahima (23) and Nermin (14) are orphans of the Bosnian war. Their life of bare survival becomes even more difficult after Nedim gets into a fistfight at school with the son of a local strongman. This incident triggers a chain of events leading Rahima to the discovery that her young brother leads a double life…

Death for Sale

Death for Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi, Brussels Film Festival 2012

Three young men decide to rob a jewellery store. They are among the hopelessly unemployed street population of Morocco’s provincial cities, common thugs in the eyes of many but bound by solidar­ity and friendship. They see the heist as a means to break out of a cycle of poverty that weighs on their destiny like a life sentence.

Vacuum

Vacuum by Giorgio Cugno, Lecce European Film Festival 2012

The story of a birth turns into being the story of an absence. A young woman’s battle against postpartum depression viewed with her claustrophobic feelings. At the same time her existence is being sucked into a large vacuum.

Extraterrestrial

Extraterrestrial by Nacho Vigalondo, Festival de Cinéma Européen des Arcs 2011

Julio and Julia wake up in Julia’s apartment, hun­gover and unsure how they met. Suddendly, they see Madrid’s skyline dot­ted with spaceships. Julia’s neighbour, Ángel, explains that there’s been an exodus of people flee­ing the city. When Julia’s boyfriend Tipo shows up, Julia and Julio convince him that Ángel is an alien and must be ejected.

A Better Life

A Better Life by Cédric Kahn, Lisbon and Estoril Film Festival 2011

Guillaume Canet and Leïla Bekhti in the spiral of excessive debt. Love, dreams and economic survival brilliantly dramatised. Best Actor Award at the Rome Film Festival and Cineuropa Award at Estoril.

Ave

Ave by Konstantin Bojanov, Sarajevo Film Festival 2011

A chance love-at-first-sight encounter and luminous road movie in a bleak Bulgaria. A debut feature unveiled at Cannes and winner of the Cineuropa Award at Sarajevo.

A Quiet Life

A Quiet Life by Claudio Cupellini, Brussels Film Festival 2011

Claudio Cupellini’s second film is also his most accomplished. After earning Best Actor at the Rome fest for Toni Servillo, the film won the Cineuropa Award at the Brussels Film Festival.