Eight feature-length audiovisual projects made in or with Luxembourg will be joining this year's edition of the Luxembourg City Film Festival (LCFF) taking place from 25 February to 6 March 2016.

The week and a half of events celebrating film will be spread across the Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg, Ciné Utopia, Utopolis Kirchberg, Cercle Cité and the festival's 'Magic Mirror' headquarters in Place de la Constitution. The latter represents a new addition for the sixth Film Festival, constituting a 16-metre pavilion capable of accommodating 200 people.

The LCFF's Luxembourg links are as follows:

50 DAYS IN THE DESERT - 2015, Luxembourg. French Original Version w/ English s/t. Production: Fabrizio Maltese

This documentary by Fabrizio Maltese explores the challenges faced by Belgian director, Joachim Lafosse, as he embarked on production of humanitarian drama 'The White Knights' in Morocco. Italian-born, Paris- and Luxembourg-based photographer and film-maker Fabrizio Maltese highlights the gruelling nature of the desert as a backdrop for this intimate seven week project.

Maltese has had his celebrity portraits grace the covers of magazines such as The Hollywood Reporter and Rolling Stone, and has produced two documentaries - '50 days in the Desert' being his most recent - with a third underway.

Screening:
Saturday 5 March 2016, 12:00 at Cinémathèque (public)


COLONIA - 2015, Germany, France, Luxembourg. English Original Version w/ French s/t. Production: Majestic, Iris Productions, Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Rezo Productions, Fred Films.

Florian Gallenberger's historical thriller follows the story of couple Lena (Emma Watson) and Daniel (Daniel Brühl) in 1970s Chile. When Daniel is rounded up by General Augusto Pinochet's forces, he has no choice but to fake mental deterioration to avoid torture and stay alive, whilst Lena sets off determined to rescue her boyfriend.

Gallenberger was born in the German city of Munich shortly before the year in which his thriller is set, and has made several award-winning live action short films
during his studies at the Munich Film School HFF.

Screening:
Sunday 28 February 2016, 19:00 at Utopolis Kirchberg (public)


LE CHANT DES HOMMES - 2015, Belgium, Luxembourg, France. French, Arab and English Original w/ French s/t. Production: Tarantula Belgique & Luxembourg.

This drama by Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jiménez portrays the extent to which a group of refugees will go to escape their troubles in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Congo, Morocco and Niger - risking their lives for asylum. Brought together through unforeseen circumstances, the group occupies a church which becomes the scene of rising tension and exhaustion, capable of both making and breaking the feeble bonds created.

'Le Chant des Hommes' is the third film that Liénard and Jiménez have made together, following 'Rising Voices' in 2002 and 'Sobre les Brasas' eleven years later. 'Rising Voices' was Liénard's first feature film and was also co-produced by Tarantula Luxembourg.

Screening:
Thursday 3 March 2016, 19:00 at Ciné Utopia


ELDORADO - 2016, Luxembourg. Luxembourgish, French & German Original Version w/ French and English s/t. Production: Samsa Fîlm. Co-Production: Film Fund Luxembourg.

This documentary, resulting from a collaboration between Rui Eduardo Abreu, Thierry Besseling and Loïc Tanson, is an anthropological exploration of the Grand Duchy. The film delves into the lives of four people who contribute to Luxembourg's 46% foreign population: middle-aged Fernando who searches for a new life after leaving financially-ridden Portugal; Carlos, who battles unemployment to make the passage from his previous life as a convicted felon to his future as a new father; out-of-place Jonathan whos' struggling at school; and Isabel, who's desperately trying to emerge anew from a violent past.

Fitting to the country which it is portraying, 'Eldorado' was created by a blend of Luxembourgish and foreign directors. Rui Eduardo was born in Portugal, studying in Paris where he later worked creating videos for theatre companies and teaching media literacy. Thierry Besseling and Loïc Tanson, both of Luxembourgish origin, have been working together since completing their Master degree in directing and their collaboration has resulted in the production of several short films.

Screenings:
Friday 26 February 2016, 09:00 at Ciné Utopia (school session)
Saturday 27 February 2016, 19:30 at Utopolis Kirchberg (Public)
Sunday 28 February 2016, 21:15 at Cinémathèque (Public)


MAMMAL - 2015, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg. English Original Version w/ French s/t. Production: Calachi Films, Les Films Fauves, Fastnet Films, Rinkel Film BV & Reinier Selen. Co-Production: Irish Film Board (IFB), Film Fund Luxembourg, BAI, TV3, Netherlands Film Fund.

Margaret (Rachel Griffiths) and Joe (Barry Keoghan) are unexpectedly thrown into each other's lives when Margaret's son who she gave up as a baby passes away. Distraught, Margaret finds maternal salvation in the form of homeless neighbourhood teenager, Joe, whom she takes in and begins to care for as one of her own. However, the dual grief of losing both the son she never knew and her rage-fuelled relationship with her ex-husband blurs the boundary between Margaret's maternal instincts for Joe and her carnal nature.

'Mammal' is the second feature of director Rebecca Daly, who has won an Irish Film Award and other international accolades for the 2006 short 'Joyriders'. 'The Other Side of Sleep', her first feature released in 2011, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival.

Screening:
Wednesday 2 March 2016, 19:00 at Utopolis (Public)


PETER AND WENDY - 2016, UK, Luxembourg. Luxembourgish version. Productions: Headline Pictures. Co-Productions: Juliette Films, Catalyst Global Media.

Diarmuid Lawrence brings audiences the adventure of Peter Pan as perceived by Lucy, an imaginative and adventurous young girl dealing with an illness. As her operation draws closer, Lucy dreams this version of Peter Pan into existence as her heart begins to fail.

Lawrence first begin his career in film and television in 1978 as a production assistance on the BBC's 'Pennies from Heaven'. His direction of 'Beyond the Pale' later earned him the Golden Gate Award for Best Television Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Screening:
Saturday 5 March 2016, 16:30 at Cinémathèque (public)

 

SUNSET SONG - 2015, UK, Luxembourg. English Original Version w/ French s/t. Co-Production: Iris Productions, Hurricane Films and SellOut Pictures

Terence Davies' dramatic examination of the life of a farmer's daughter in northern Scotland at the beginning of the 20th century has already set tongues wagging at international festival screenings. After her mother commits suicide and her father suffers a stroke, Chris (Agyness Deyn) is left to tend to the farm with only her brother and best friend for guidance. Although she manages to find love, tragedy strikes again when her new husband is sent off to the Great War and she remains on the farm forced to adapt to the onset of technology and war.

Having been writing and acting for the theatre and television since studying at Coventry Drama School, Terence davies first began to receive recognition at international film festivals such as Locarno and Cannes in the late 80s with first feature 'Distant Voices, Still Lives'. 'The Long Day Closes', 'The Deep Blue Sea' and 'A Quiet Passion' have further solidified his reputation in global film-making.

Screening:
Tuesday 1 March 2016, 18:30 at Ciné Utopia (public)
Wednesday 2 March 2016, 20:30 at Cinémathèque (public)


VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL (LA SUPPLICATION) - 2015, Luxembourg. French Original Version w/ English s/t. Productions: Red Lion. Co-Productions: KGP (AUT)

Based on the novel 'Voices from Chernobyl' by Svetlana Alexievich, this documentary by Pol Cruchten breaks down the barriers concealing the world of Chernobyl. Through eyewitness accounts of lives before and existences after the incident, the audience embarks on a journey into the human soul.

A Luxembourg producer and director who studied at the ESEC Film School in Paris, Pol Cruchten has carved a name for himself with films 'Never Die Young' (2013), 'Perl oder Pica' (2006), and 'Hochzäitsnuecht' (1992), the latter of which was awarded the Max Ophüls Preis in Sarrebruck.

Screening:
Friday 26 February 2016, 21:30 at Utopolis Kirchberg (public)
Monday 29 February 2016, 19:00 at Cinémathèque (public)


Luxembourg film production will also be represented at the Film Festival through the assitional screening of a number of short films, these being: 'Casting a Woman' by Caroline Kox; 'Everything was as Always' (Et wor alles wéï ëmmer) from Max Jacoby; 'Long Lost' by Nadia Masri; Pascal Thiebaux's 'Quenottes' (Pearlies); Summer Leaves from Diana Nilles; and 'Tout est Calme' by Marylène Andrin.

For the full festival programme and further information, visit www.luxfilmfest.lu

 

Photo by Geoff Thompson