On Wednesday 13 February 2019, the organisers of the Luxembourg City Film Festival held a press conference at Kinepolis-Kirchberg to announced details of its programme and screening schedule.

This year's festival will be held from Thursday 7 to Sunday 17 March 2019; the Young Public's programme had been announced earlier - today it was the turn of the other screenings and various festival happenings.

New this year will be screenings held throughout the day, i.e. on week-day afternoons as well as in the evenings. This year’s festival will also have, in addition to its programme of films to be screened, a number of conferences involving discussions on various topics, masterclasses and exhibitions.

Last year saw a total attendance figure of 35,000, including cinema-goers at the 2018 festival.

This year’s programme includes a number of films from South and Latin America, as well as many involving female protagonists and some absurd comedies.

The following is a list of feature films being screened in English, with many more also having sub-titles in English.

The main three films include:

- Opening: Gloria Bell by Sebastian Lelio (in EN), a comedy drama: A free-spirited woman in her 50s seeks out love at L.A. dance clubs.

- Awards screening: Tel Aviv on Fire by Sameh Zoabi (in Arabic, FR sub-titles), a comedy: Salam, an inexperienced young Palestinian man, becomes a writer on a popular soap opera after a chance meeting with an Israeli soldier. His creative career is on the rise - until the soldier and the show's financial backers disagree about how the show should end, and Salam is caught in the middle.

- Closing: The Beach Bum by Harmony Korine (in EN), a comedy drama: A rebellious stoner named Moondog lives life by his own rules

Other, primarily English-language films, include:

• Cutterhead by Rasmus Kloster Bro (in EN), a thriller: Rie visits a tunnel-boring machine being used to construct the Copenhagen Metro. When an accident occurs, she must survive the claustrophobic conditions of an airlock with Ivo and Bharan whilst reconsidering their lives.

• Free Solo by Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (in EN), a documentary: Follow Alex Honnold as he becomes the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite's 3,000ft high El Capitan Wall. With no ropes or safety gear, he completed arguably the greatest feat in rock climbing history.

• Greta by Neil Jordan (in EN), a thriller: A young woman befriends a lonely widow who's harbouring a dark and deadly agenda towards her.

• In Fabric by Peter Strickland (in EN), a comedy horror: In Fabric is a haunting ghost story set against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a department store and follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, with devastating consequences.

• Vox Lux by Brady Corbet (in EN), a drama, starring Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law: An unusual set of circumstances brings unexpected success to a pop star.

• 93QUEEN by Paula Eiselt (in EN), a documentary: Set in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, "93Queen" follows a group of tenacious Hasidic women who are smashing the patriarchy in their community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. With unprecedented-and insider-access, "93Queen" offers up a unique portrayal of a group of religious women who are taking matters into their own hands to change their own community from within.

• At Eternity’s Gate by Julian Schnabel (in EN), a biopic, starring Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend: A look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.

• Happy New Year, Colin Burstead by Ben Wheatley (in EN), a black comedy: Colin hires a lavish country manor for his extended family to celebrate New Year. Unfortunately for Colin his position of power in the family is under serious threat from the arrival of his estranged brother David.

• Under the Wire by Chris Martin (in EN), a documentary: On 13 February 2012, two journalists entered war-ravaged Syria. One of them was celebrated Sunday Times war correspondent, Marie Colvin. The other was photographer, Paul Conroy. Their aim was to cover the plight of Syrian civilians trapped in Homs, a city under siege and relentless military attack from the Syrian army. Only one of them returned. This is their story.

• On her Shoulders by Alexandria Bombach (in EN), a documentary: Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people.

• Rams by Gary Hustwit (in EN):  A portrait of Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers alive, and a rumination on consumerism, sustainability, and the future of design. A portrait of Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers alive, and a rumination on consumerism, sustainability, and the future of design..

• Sawah by Adolf El Asssl (in EN, FR & Arabic), a comedy drama (a Luxembourgish co-production): On his way to a DJ Championship in Brussels, a young Egyptian is mistaken for an illegal immigrant and detained in a country he's never heard of before.

Together with "Sawah", the "Made in/with Luxembourg" programme includes the following:

• Angelo by Markus Schleinzer (in FR, DE, with EN sub-titles), a drama: In early 18th century an African slave boy is chosen by a European Comtesse to be baptized and educated. Reaching adulthood, Angelo achieves prominence and becomes the Viennese court mascot until he decides to secretly marry a white woman.

• California Dreaming by Fabrizio Maltese (in EN & ES, with EN, FR sub-titles), a drama: California Dreaming explores the unusual town of California City, which is the 3rd largest city by area in the state of California, though only about 14,000 people live there. It was grandiosely conceived in the 1950s as a new metropolis to rival Los Angeles, a mere two hours South of California City, but now it's a small town within a much larger ghost town in the desert. The film follows several locals and draws parallels between the American Dream of the 1950s, when the city was founded, and the dreams of those living there today.

• Escapada by Sarah Hirtt (in DR, ES), a comedy drama: Siblings torn apart by the hazards of life meet in Spain to settle the family's modest inheritance. Gustave, the mover, on the brink of bankruptcy, Jules the anarchistic activist, and Lou, the youngest, lost between her brothers, yearning for the unknown. Each one has a different outlook on life and their personal projects for this inheritance will reawaken family disagreements and phantoms of the past.

• Flatland by Jenna Bass (in Afrikaans, EN), a western: The world of lonely, middle-age policewoman Beauty Cuba changes forever when she receives a call for help from Billy, the lost love of her life who has recently been re-arrested for murder. Beauty returns to her home town of Beaufort West, deep in the heart of the surreal landscape of the Karoo semi-desert and quickly learns that this case is not as simple as she thought. The real culprit of this accidental murder is a painfully shy young woman named Natalie who flees her small, rural town on horseback and teams up with her now pregnant childhood friend Poppie to outrun the law. Flatland is a journey of self-discovery for these three different but equally desperate women, painting a vivid and unique portrait of femininity against a hostile frontier-land and questions what it means to be a women in contemporary South Africa and the world at large.

• For a Happy Life by Salima Glamine, Dimitri Linder (in FR): Brussels, 2018. Amel and Mashir, 17 and 22 years old, live a secret love story which, under the weight of family traditions, threatens brutally to collapse. Without breaking the balance of those around them, the two lovers will then try to save their relationship.

• Peitruss by Max Jacoby (in EN, DE, FR with), a thriller: Ever since she fell for the hot and mysterious Joakim, life is good to Lara again. She’s in a passionate relationship that takes her to heights she didn’t even know existed. It makes her failed marriage to dull policeman Toni feel like a distant memory. But when Toni accuses Joakim of committing a string of unsolved murders that terrorise Luxembourg, Lara’s world is shaken upside down...

• Tremors by Jayro Bustamante (in ES with sub-titles tbc), a drama: The coming out of an evangelical father shatters his family, his community and uncovers a profoundly repressive society.

• Zero Impunity by Nicolas Blies, Stéphane Hueber-Blies, Denis Lambert (in EN & FR with st in FR), a documentary: Sexual violence is a real cancer that destabilizes our societies and weakens peace processes. ZERO IMPUNITY is the contemporary story of an irony. While we have a legal arsenal to condemn sexual violence in times of war, but impunity remains total. Survivors, whistleblowers, psychologists and lawyers became indignant. Men and women have freed their word. Their stories will plunge us into the backstages of contemporary conflicts. ZERO IMPUNITY is a film about the love survivors (men and women) have for life and humanity.

• Funan & Invisibe Sue: for the young public

Also, three films "in competition" are also being screened in English, as follows:

• Ghosthunter by Ben Lawrence (in EN), a documentary (one of 6 films in competition): Follows a real life ghost hunter.

• Firecrackers by Jasmin Mozaffari (in EN), a drama: Lou and her best friend Chantal plan to get out of their isolated, run-down town and move to a city far, far away. When Chantal's unstable and possessive ex violates her during a night of partying, the girls decide to exact their revenge on him through a night of vandalism and debauchery. The consequences of their actions are devastating, threatening the girls' chances of ever leaving. The more Lou fights tooth-and-nail to save her friendship and hold onto her dreams, the more she spins out of control as she begins to realize that freedom will come at a high cost.

• Ray & Liz by Richard Billingham (in EN), a drama: Photographer Richard Billingham returns to the squalid council flat outside of Birmingham where he and his brother were raised, in a confrontation and reconciliation with parents Ray and Liz.
 
The programme of short films covers various different genres, styles and languages.

For full details, including the event programme, the screening programme, etc., see www.luxfilmfest.lu; for ticketing, see www.luxembourg-ticket.lu €7/film, €30 for a festival pass)