Luxembourg City Film Festival

Last updated
Luxembourg City Film Festival
2024 Luxembourg City Film Festival poster.jpg
2024 edition poster
Location Luxembourg
Established2011
Most recent2025
AwardsThe Grand Prix
DirectorsGeorges Santer, Glady Lazareff
Hosted by
  • Ministry of Culture and the City of Luxembourg
  • Luxembourg City Film Festival
Artistic directorAlexis Juncosa
Festival dateOpening: 6 March 2025 (2025-03-06)
Closing: 16 March 2025 (2025-03-16)
Website https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/
Current: 15th
16th
14th

Luxembourg City Film Festival (LuxFilmFest) is an annual film festival in Luxembourg. Supported by the Ministry of Culture and the City of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg City Film Festival is the nation's official festival. The festival showcases contemporary international creations through a selection of fiction and documentaries, special screenings, national productions, and a segment for young audiences. [1]

Contents

Profile

Luxembourg City Film Festival was launched in 2011, it is the country's official film festival and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the City of Luxembourg. [2] From the start, its artistic director was Alexis Junkosa, [3] while Colette Flesch served as chair of the festival's board of directors. She stepped down in 2020 and was succeeded by Georges Santer. [4]

The festival sections include Grand Prix competition with an award coming with a €10000 prize, Documentary Prize competition with a prize of €5000, and an out-of-competition segment Made in Luxembourg. The festival also hosts LUXFILMFEST FABRIC (masterclasses and workshops), LUXFILMFEST CLUB, and Virtual Reality Pavilion. [5] [6] [7] The Crème Fraîche competition targets the audience between 12 and 25 and ultra-short 90-second films and scripts. The winner gets to produce his project under the national youth service. [8] In 2022, with the support of Luxembourg Aid & Development, the 2030 Award was established to honour the films which most powerfully illustrate issues of development or directors linked to the partner countries of the Luxembourg Cooperation. [9] [10]

Apart from the main festival events, the team manages numerous one-off screenings and outside activities, including the Young Audience Award in collaboration with the European Film Academy, the Holocaust Memorial Day, etc. [4] The Industry Days section, dedicated to cinema professionals, offers pitching sessions, workshops and open talks. [11]

In 2018, the festival had record attendance of 30,500 visitors. [2]

In 2022, MovieMaker ranked LuxFilmFest one of the 25 coolest film festivals in the world. [12]

Editions

2021

The 11th edition ran from 4 to 14 March 2021. It was held in a hybrid format amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 4,200 viewers attended the physical screenings while 20,000 more viewers registered on the event's online platform. [13]

2022

The 12th edition ran from 3 to 13 March 2022. [14] The 2030 Award by Luxembourg Aid & Development was launched that year. It is awarded to a work that demonstrates its dedication to the fight against poverty, the elimination of hunger around the world, access to healthcare and education, equality between the sexes and access to clean water worldwide. [15]

2023

The 13th edition took place from 2 to 12 March 2023, featuring 256 screenings. [16] The Fipresci award was established that year. [17] Valentina Maurel's I Have Electric Dreams won the Grand Prix. [18]

2024

In 2024, the festival unspooled from 29 February to 10 March and attracted almost 20,000 visitors. The programm featured a retrospective of Gaspar Noé's films as well as a line-up of 123 movies. Nathalie Hertzberg, Marianne Slot, Vicky Krieps, Damián Szifron, and Sebastian Koch served on the international jury, presided by Ira Sachs. [19] [20] The Grand Prix as well as the FIPRESCI Award went to Terrestrial Verses by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami. The Documentary Award was given to Reas by Lola Arias, while the 2030 Award was given to The Echo by Tatiana Huezo. The Audience Award went to Gasoline Rainbow by Ross brothers. [9] Viggo Mortensen was honoured with a lifetime achievement award, he also presented his latest film The Dead Don’t Hurt. [10]

2025

The 15th edition took place from for 6 to 16 March 2025. [21] It attracted 21,000 visitors with Alejandro Amenábar, a Chilean-Spanish film director, screenwriter and composer, and Tim Roth, an English actor and director, appearing as the guests of honour. [22]

Awards

2024 [9]

2025 [22]

References

  1. "About". Luxembourg City Film Festival. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Luxfilmfest". Festagent. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  3. "Interview with Alexis Juncosa, Artistic Director of the Luxembourg City Film Festival". Luxembourg. 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  4. 1 2 Caillard, Guilhelm (2020-07-06). "The new Lux Film Lab is now up and running". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  5. Economou, Vassilis (2024-02-09). "Luxembourg City Film Festival presents its 2024 programme". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  6. "Multiple Luxembourg Co-Productions in LuxFilmFest Line-Up". Chronicle. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  7. Caillard, Guilhelm (2022-03-11). "The Luxembourg City Film Festival's VR pavilion returns once again". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  8. Einarsson, Tómas Atli (2023-03-09). "Luxembourg's young filmmakers get creative for Crème Frâiche". LuxTimes. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  9. 1 2 3 Vassilis, Economou (2024-03-11). "Terrestrial Verses wins big at the Luxembourg City Film Festival". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  10. 1 2 Einarsson, Tomas Atli (2024-03-10). "Special guests and awards presented at Luxembourg City Film Fest". LuxTimes. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  11. Economou, Vassilis (2025-02-21). "The 15th Luxembourg City Film Festival to honour Alejandro Amenábar and Tim Roth while exploring industry trends". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  12. "Luxembourg City Film Festival 2024". LuxTimes. 2024-02-20. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  13. Caillard, Guilhelm (2021-03-16). "Quo vadis, Aida? triumphs at the 11th Luxembourg City Film Festival". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  14. "Luxembourg City Film Festival - 2024 Edition". The British Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  15. Caillard, Guilhem (2022-03-03). "The 12th Luxembourg City Film Festival returns in full force with new additions". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  16. Einarsson, Tómas Atli (2023-02-17). "13th Luxembourg city film fest to launch in March". Lux Times. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  17. Gerhardstein, Natalie A. (2023-02-09). "13th Lux Film Fest reaches new record". Delano. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  18. González, David (2023-03-13). "I Have Electric Dreams adds the Luxembourg City Film Festival trophy to its collection". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  19. Vassilis, Economou (2024-02-09). "Luxembourg City Film Festival presents its 2024 programme". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  20. "Programme unveiled for this year's Luxembourg City Film Festival". LuxTimes. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  21. Tómas Atli Einarsson (12 February 2025). "Luxembourg City Film Festival returns for 15th edition". Luxembourg Times . Retrieved 20 February 2025.
  22. 1 2 Economou, Vassilis (17 March 2025). "The New Year That Never Came wins at the 15th Luxembourg City Film Festival". Cineuropa . Retrieved 18 March 2025.