Romanian director Emanuel Pârvu’s Three Kilometres To The End Of The World has won the European University Film Award (EUFA) 2024.
The award, a joint initiative of the European Film Academy and Filmfest Hamburg, is presented by university students from across Europe.
Three Kilometres To The End Of The World debuted in Competition in Cannes earlier this year. Set in a conservative Danube Delta community, it follows a gay teenager’s journey of self-discovery, which clashes with the traditional values of his parents and neighbours.
It was selected from five shortlisted films, including Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap; Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April; Halfdan Ullmann Tondel’s Armand; and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon.
Since October, the five nominated films, based on the European Film Awards’ Feature and Documentary Film Selections 2024, have been viewed and discussed at 21 universities in 21 countries before each institution selected its favourite film.
In early December, one student representative from each university attended a three-day deliberation meeting in Hamburg to decide on the overall winner.
The winner was announced at today’s (December 6) Mayor’s Night in Lucerne, the evening before the European Film Awards Ceremony in the city.
The EUFA jury said: “The film deconstructs the mechanisms of ostracism, a worldwide problem penetrating societal and institutional structures. With the effective use of resources, the director brilliantly utilised the Romanian landscape to portray the devastating impact of homophobia. Despite decades of activism and political action, queer communities continue to be marginalised by normative society. The film invites the broader European audiences to look beyond their urban horizons and to reflect on the neglected peripheries, where bigotry transcends legislations, and humanity transcends bigotry.”
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