Contribution of Lux Prize films to European identity; a study from a critical cosmopolitan vision

Abstract

The European film industry exists in a network of market forces, EU policies, and state subsidies, but proves a relevant object of study for researching the scope of a pragmatic yet pluralistic European identity. This paper explores this question through a textual analysis of the Lux prize films. Approaches from social and European integration theory are useful to study the potential significance of film to shape European identity, since cinema projects values and can be a driver of European integration by contributing to the shared European identity (COM (2014) 272 final). The European Parliament set up the LUX Prize awards in 2007, to identify and support films that tackle the heart of the European public debate. Previous research points out that the prize raises questions concerning film s role in building a European identity (Stjernholm, 2016). The growing importance of culture in EU policies since the enlargement process to (as of today) 28 countries coincides with a shift from essentialist to constructivist conceptions of European identity (Liz, 2016). Delanty argued (2002) that some of the most striking achievements of Europe are social and economic, rather than cultural -- for example, citizenship, anti-corruption, sustainable development, stakeholder capitalism, and corporate responsibility. Commenting on Beck's prospect of a cosmopolitan union of Europe (Beck, 2006), Schlesinger (2008:422) denounced that there is little realistic engagement with institutional politics. He argued that Delanty s interpretation of the cosmopolitan model introduced a challenge for the EU to create spaces for communication (Delanty, G. and Rumford, Ch., 2005: 20).

This paper will explore, following Delanty s cosmopolitan post institutional theory, the ways in which fictional feature films in the Lux Prize awards help to air different views on some of the main social and political issues of the day and, as such, contribute to building a stronger European identity (https://luxprize.eu/why-and-what). Research will cover a twenty-year sample of films in the Lux Prize awards. Methodology will be based on textual analysis to identify recurring genres, narrative patterns, themes and character types present in the films. The paper will argue that the EP Lux Prize may be a seminal initiative for helping shape certain European identity, one that, in Delanty s words, is not an existing identity but an open ended process of cultural and institutional experimentation (Delanty, 2002: 357).

KEY REFERENCES

Beck, U. (2006). Cosmopolitan Vision. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Gerard Delanty (2008) Models of European identity: Reconciling universalism and Particularism, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 3:3, 345-359, DOI: 10.1080/15705850208438841 Delanty, G. and Rumford, Ch. (2005) Rethinking Europe. Social Theory and the implications of Europeanization. London: Routledge.

European Commission. (2014) Communication from the Commission. European film in the digital era Bridging cultural diversity and competitiveness. COM/2014/0272 final. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal content/EN/TXT/?qid=1519723543886&uri=CELEX:52014DC0272

Liz, M. (2016) Euro-visions, Europe in Contemporary Cinema. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Schlesinger, Ph. (2008) A Cosmopolitan Temptation. European Journal of Communication. 22(4) 413-426.

Stjernholm, E. (2016) The European Union celebrates culture: the case of the European Parliament Lux Prize, Studies in European Cinema. VOL. 13, NO. 1, 19 31.