Mustang is winner of this year's LUX Film Prize

President Martin Schulz announced that Mustang had won the 2015 European Parliament LUX Prize for cinema at a ceremony in the Chamber in Strasbourg at noon on Tuesday (24 November). Mustang tells the story of five sisters who have been promised to husbands through forced marriages but who, determined to live their own lives, break the yoke of tradition.

Schulz congratulated the three finalists, including the winning film director Deniz Gamze Ergüven and her crew, and said: "These very different films raise fundamental questions: "How must our continent of emigration change in order to evolve into a continent of immigration? What is the role of women in societies on our doorstep? How is the economic crisis undermining our lives together? These European films deserve our support and I am proud that the European Parliament is again this year helping to show these films as widely as possible."

On being awarded the prize, the winning director, Deniz Gamze Ergüven said: "In its way, Mustang promotes the ideals of the European Union. Thank you for the impact this film has through the LUX Prize."

Silvia Costa (S&D, IT), chairwoman of the culture and education committee, said: "The LUX Prize is an example of cultural diplomacy, combining support for the expression of the cultural and creative industries with European co-productions, promoting cultural and linguistic diversity and also proposing artistic interpretations of complex realities that help us understand each other. Not only in Europe but in the world."

The other two films on the shortlist for the 2015 prize were Mediterranea (Italy, United States, Germany, France, Qatar) by Jonas Carpignano and Urok (The Lesson) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria, Greece). The winner is decided every year by a ballot of MEPs.

Parliament meets the costs of translating and subtitling each of the three films on the final shortlist in the EU's 24 official languages. In addition, the winning film will be adapted for the hard of hearing and visually impaired in at least the original language version.

The three films on the shortlist for the LUX Prize are screened in the 28 European Union countries during the LUX Film Days event, from September to December. The aim is to share the wealth and diversity of European cinema with as many Europeans as possible and to spark discussion about the topics raised in the films selected.