On Saturday evening, the 7th annual British & Irish Film Season (BIFS) in Luxembourg concluded with the screening of the upbeat comedy Sing Street, directed by John Carney; first up on the evening were the closing speeches and the awards, with a riveting Q&A with actor Kelly Thornton to close off proceedings.

Ireland's Ambassador to Luxembourg, Peadar Carpenter, addressed the audience and spoke briefly on the film industry in Ireland and thanked the organisers.

Geoff Thompson, festival organiser, thanked the sponsors, both the British and Irish embassies, the 14 volunteers, the sponsors, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Galway Film Fleadh, as well as all the special guests from Britain, Ireland and Luxembourg who had all combined to prvovide the festival with great support and interesting content. He revealed that the attendance at this year's festival had risen by over 20% on the previous year's figures.

In the BIFS 2016 Awards, two prizes were given out for the Young Journalist Competition, with Siofra Collins and Emilie Lindelöw the winners for their reviews of After'16 and Property of the State.

Jean-Pierre Thilges, representing the ALPC Critics' Jury, acknowledged the high percentage of films directed by women in this year's festival line-up and mentioned the strong acting combinations in both The Carer and Away, but revealed the unanimous choice of the Critics' Award went to Adult Life Skills.

Josh Featherstone was the lucky winner of the Audience Prize of two return tickets to either LondonCity or Dublin, with the Audience Award going to the powerful documentary Atlantic by Richie O'Donnell, presented by Christian Carbonne of Luxair.

After the screening of Sing Street, which was hugely appreciated by the audience in a packed screening room, actor Kelly Thornton revealed how she had landed her breakthrough role in the 2013 comedy Life's a Breeze by Lance Daly and her involvement in the making of Sing Street, which she thoroughly enjoyed, as well as her hopes for future roles the other side of the Atlantic.

Photos by Ali Sahib