17/04/24 (Agence Europe) – The Teachers’ Lounge, by German director IIker Çatak, won the European Cinema Audience Award 2024 (LUX Audience Award) on Tuesday 16 April, in a vote combining votes from the public and MEPs, each weighted 50%. The award ceremony took place in the chamber of the European Parliament in Brussels and the following films were entered: 20,000 species of bees by Spaniard Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, Fallen leaves by Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, On the Adamant by French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert, and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Estonian filmmaker Anna Hints. The ceremony was an opportunity for European Parliament Vice-President Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austrian) to pay tribute to the role of cinema in transmitting European values. And with good reason: the LUX Audience Award, created in 2007 by the European Parliament, is designed to reward films that raise awareness of contemporary social and political issues. (NP)