Eva Libertad's 'Deaf' Wins 2026 European Parliament LUX Award
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Eva Libertad's debut solo feature Deaf (Sorda), about a deaf woman expecting a child with her hearing partner, won the 2026 European Parliament's LUX Audience Award at a Brussels ceremony on Tuesday evening.
- The film has been on a continuous prize run since world-premiering in Berlinale's Panorama section in 2025, where it took the audience award and the CICAE arthouse cinema prize.
- At Spain's Goyas, Libertad won Best New Director, deaf lead Miriam Garlo won Best Actress, and Álvaro Cervantes won Best Supporting Actor.
- Created in 2007, the LUX Prize is decided by a 50/50 split of a public vote and an MEP vote, and the initiative now subtitles all shortlisted films in 24 EU languages — adding subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the first time this year.
- The other shortlisted films were Brendan Canty's Christy, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident, Anna Cazenave Cambet's Love Me Tender and Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value.
- Produced by Distinto Films, Nexus CreaFilms and A Contracorriente Films, sold internationally by Latido Films, Deaf has been released in more than 40 countries worldwide.
- Libertad said she hopes the award will focus attention on the Deaf community and push inclusion policies, adding that diversity "will no longer be seen as a problem and…be perceived as human wealth."
- Selection-panel honorary president Mike Downey called the film "a textbook example of how to get audiences into cinemas to watch inspiring European films and engage in debates about Europe."
Why it matters: The LUX Award pairs a public vote with an MEP vote to amplify European films tackling social issues, and *Deaf* now gains the EU's institutional megaphone plus subtitle support in 24 languages — a direct distribution boost for a film made by and starring deaf talent (writer-director Libertad and lead Garlo) that has already reached 40+ countries.
Ask SkimNews
