Spanish director Eva Libertad’s film "Deaf" has won the 2026 LUX Audience Award, chosen jointly by EU citizens and Members of the European Parliament.
The winner was selected via votes cast by the public across Europe and by MEPs on the LUX Audience Award platform, with each group accounting for 50% of the final score, according to the European Parliament's release issued on Wednesday.
The drama follows Ángela, a deaf woman expecting a child with her hearing partner, and centres on her concerns about motherhood and communication as she prepares to raise a baby “in a world not built for her.”
European Parliament vice-president Sabine Verheyen said the film is led by a performance from deaf actress Miriam Garlo and portrays “the life of a deaf woman navigating motherhood”.
Libertad said she hoped the award would “help to focus on the deaf community” and “promote inclusion policies that improve their living conditions.”
Other finalists and what the prize includes
The other shortlisted films were "Christy" by Irish director Brendan Canty, "It Was Just an Accident" by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, "Love Me Tender" by French director Anna Cazenave Cambet, and "Sentimental Value" by Norwegian director Joachim Trier, the European Parliament said.
The LUX Audience Award is a pan-European film prize launched in 2007, and the European Parliament said it supports the distribution of European films by providing subtitles in 24 EU languages for all shortlisted titles.
Shortlisted films also have subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences for the first time this year.
