During the 57th Festival du Film in Cannes (12.-23. May) British film director Ken Loach will get an Honorary Award by the churches. Representing social and political committed cinema, Ken Loach has been awarded by the churches on numerous occasions before. "My name is Joe" won the European Templeton Film Award of the Year 1998,  and "Land and Freedom" the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in Cannes 1995. "Ladybird, Ladybird" was the award-winner of the Ecumenical Jury of the Berlinale 1994. This year in Cannes, on Thursday, May 18th, an Honorary Medal will be presented to Ken Loach at the festival stand of the Ecumenical Jury. By this award, the churches honour the works of an artist who is able to combine his partisanship for social underprivileged people with the big emotions of cinema melodrama.

The award to Ken Loach is part of the church commitment to the most important film festival over the last decades. In Cannes, an Ecumenical Jury has been established 30 years ago. It is organised by the International Church Film Organisation INTERFILM (evangelical) and SIGNIS, The World Catholic Association for Communication (formerly OCIC). Chairperson of  the Ecumenical Jury in Cannes 2004 is SIGNIS president Peter Malone from Australia, the other members coming from Brasil, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. In 1974, the first ecumenical award-winner has been Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "Fear Eats out the Soul" (Angst essen Seele auf). At the festival in Cannes, solely the awards of the official jury and of the jury of the International Film Critics, alongside with the awards of the Ecumenical Jury, are regarded as official prizes.

Actual informations about the Ecumenical Jury in Cannes: http://juryoecumenique-cannes.cef.fr/