[WATCH] Europe’s call to vote is an intimate portrait of the emotional beauty of childbirth

Choose Your Future – European Elections 23-26 May

It is one of the most important actions a citizen can make: voting. 

That is why award-winning director Frédéric Planchon is documenting the intense, beautiful and fragile moments when newborn children come into this world, in the short film ‘Choose Your Future’ for the May 2019 European elections – a nudge to be part of these elections and to think about the future generations that will ultimately have to live with the consequences of this vote. 

Narrated by a young girl appealing to voters’ sense of responsibility, the future citizen implores: “Each of us can leave a mark, but together we can make a real difference. Choose the Europe you want me to grow up in.”

It is a message that ties in with one of the dearest held feelings about European unity: togetherness. Over 80% of the EUs citizens declared that what unites Europeans is more important than what separates them.

That is why Planchon’s video for the European Parliament brings this emotion home. The more people vote, the stronger and more legitimate a democracy becomes.

The video makes Europeans aware of their shared values, emotions and responsibilities. To deal with global challenges, Europeans need to stand together and choose their - and their children’s and grand-children’s – future, by casting their vote in the upcoming elections.

All cast women are pregnant or have just given birth, and reflect the diversity of European families. They all gave birth between February and March 2019. All the birth scenes are 100% real. In total, 15 future parents were filmed on location in Greece, Denmark, Czechia and Hungary.

Even watching the ongoing Brexit negotiations have demonstrated the uncertainty that separation brings, and the risks of leaving the protection of the EU. 

That is why most Europeans say they feel hope or confidence (55% in total), and why uncertainty on Europe’s future triggers doubt amongst one-third of European citizens surveyed. 

Brexit has simply revealed how close and together EU countries after years of working together, and the benefits people reap by being member of this wider club of nations. 

Already 35% of EU citizens say they are certain they will vote in the elections of 23-26 May, but another 32% are yet to be convinced.

Even for young people of voting age, who have consistently the most positive attitude towards the EU (74%), only 21% of them are certain to go to vote, while 34% have not yet made up their minds.

And again like Brexit, these benefits tend to only become apparent when people risk losing them. That’s why 68% of Europeans believe the EU has brought benefits to their country and 61% know that the EU is a good thing. 

EU countries must stick closely together if they want to use their influence in a new world order where other countries are piling on the pressure. Look at this Eurobarometer report: EU citizens are mostly interested in the state of the economy, employment prospects, migration, climate change and the fight against terrorism. 

And all these important issues call for more European togetherness, cooperation and joint action. 

So the future shape of Europe is truly in the hands of those who will vote on 23-26 May!

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