The Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović is the winner of the 2014 European Union ‘Prix MEDIA’, awarded to the best new film project eligible for support from the Creative Europe MEDIA programme. Tanović will receive the award from Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner responsible for culture, during a ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Saturday 17 May.
The director shares the award with co-scriptwriter Predrag Kojovic and producer Amra Baksic Camo for What Are You Looking At?, a story he describes as being “about a city in an indefinitely prolonged post-war period, without heroes and with its values hijacked by corruption and crime”.
“Danis Tanović is one of the finest film-makers of his generation. His latest film project is exceptional, with a compelling script that exudes a powerful sense of cultural identity and dynamism,” Commissioner Vassiliou said.
What Are You Looking At? is still in the early development phase. The central character is Jasmin, living in Sarajevo alongside his friends and enemies, in a period of transition that has gone on for almost 20 years.
What Are You Looking At? was selected as the best new film project by European experts for its outstanding artistic content in combination with promising strategies for development, production and distribution, including strong European box-office potential.
The European Union’s Prix MEDIA is awarded to the project with the best box-office potential submitted for development funding from Creative Europe’s MEDIA programme. The winner is selected by a panel of independent experts and representatives of the European Commission and Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, which manages the MEDIA sub-programme.
For more information
European Commission MEDIA programme
Follow Androulla Vassiliou on Twitter @VassiliouEU
Full statement: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-557_en.htm
