Festival Events Asbl has announced the launch of the 17th British and Irish Film Festival Luxembourg 2026 Spring Edition: screenings will be held at Ciné Utopia; while the core festival dates are from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 March 2026, three other screenings are being held before these dates.
According to the festival organisers' press release, the film festival provides a unique opportunity for viewers to experience a wide selection of new films from Britain and Ireland. The 2026 Spring Edition includes eleven feature-length films from a cross-section of genres and representing mainly independent cinema. In addition, we will be screening some short films, including a fifteen-minute documentary from the winners of the Young Filmmakers Competition 2024/25, plus the holding of the Awards for the Young Filmmakers Competition 2025/26, the top prize being 2 Industry Passes to the Galway Film Fleadh 2026.
The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg (BIFFL) 2026 Spring Edition will have “I SWEAR)” as its official Opening Screening, a Scottish drama, and will close with “BAITE”, an Irish-language drama. All films will be receiving their Luxembourg premiers during the festival.
Shorts Evening
The winners of the 2nd Young Filmmakers Competition 2024/25 will have their documentary ECHOES OF GALWAY screened as part of this evening, along with other short films.
Excerpts of the 12 entries for the 2025/26 competition will be screened, with the winners in their entirety. The entries were:
- Stranger, by Anna SILENCHUK, International School of Luxembourg (ISL)
- Luxembourgish Steel History, by Ali BEYAZ, Ecole Internationale Differdange et Esch (EIDE)
- The Litterer, by Martin BREZIGA & Petru GRANCEA, European School Luxembourg 2 (EESL2)
- 10 Minutes, by Ben CORRY, Lenster Lycee international School (LLIS)
- The Walk, by Vasileios KASKALIS, Phivos SORTIKOS, Gabriel THIAM & Vasileios VERNARDOS, European School of Luxembourg II, Mamer
- Where Our Dreams Meet, by Cléa BULTOT, Vauban, Ecole et Lycée Français de Luxembourg
- Ours, by Karolina YAZBECK & Nika OBROVAC, Lycée Athénée de Luxembourg
- Be The System, by Stefan CAPITANCESU, University of Luxembourg
- If Doubt Could Kill, by Elliot ESPOSITO-ROBERTS, Ecole Internationale Differdange et Esch (EIDE)
- If It Were You, by Kelvin HICKEY, Lenster Lycee international School (LLIS)
- The Road to Nowhere Flowers, by Fédor FEDOROV & William MURRAY, Lenster Lycee international School
- The Distance Between Us, by Brandon VERJANS TRUJILLO, Lenster Lycee International School (LLIS)
Special Guests
A number of Special Guests coming over for the 2026 Spring Edition, including:
- From That Small Island: Briona NICDHIARMADA (producer)
- The Song Cycle: Nick KELLY (director)
- Testimony: Aoife KELLEHER (director)
- The Soccermen: Matthew CONRAD (director)
- The Marbles: David WILKINSON (director)
- Baite: Eleanor O'BRIEN (actor)
Awards & Prizes
This edition also features both an Audience Award as well as an Audience Prize, with two entries winning a Magnum of Crémant from Bernard-Massard / a Hamper from Home from Home, and also a Critics’ Award, with the involvement of members of the Association Luxembourgeoise de la Presse Cinématographique (ALPC).
Tickets
Ticket prices are €10 for Ciné Utopia, available via Luxembourg-Ticket.lu, apart from the BIFFL Presents… screening in collaboration with Ciné Utopia (tickets for this screening are on sale at Kinepolis.lu) at commercial rates The popular Season Special Tickets are available for €35, and Double Bill tickets for €15, by calling LuxembourgTicket.lu. Tickets may also be available at the venues prior to screenings, depending on availability.
Partners & Sponsors
The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg is held under the patronage of both the Embassy of Ireland in Luxembourg and the British Embassy in Luxembourg.
The festival acknowledges its support again for this edition from a number of organisations including the Galway Film Fleadh, the Irish Film Institute, Screen Ireland, Culture Ireland, the Ville de Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Film Fund, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture, and PwC Luxembourg Foundation, as well the Œuvre Nationale de Secours GrandeDuchesse Charlotte (for our Young Filmmakers Competition) and also the financial contribution of Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme.
The festival also enjoys support from its sponsors and, all our community partners and our media partners: AraCityRadio, Chronicle.lu, RTL Today and l’Essentiel. The festival sincerely thanks these organisations for their support through their commitment to supporting community and cultural events through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Programme / Schedule
- Sun 8 Mar @ 18:00 @ Kinepolis-Kirchberg: The Wolf, the Fox & the Leopard (LU, IE, NL, HR, TW), 120 mins – in collaboration with the Luxembourg City Film Festival, Deal Productions and Tarantula Distribution
- Wed 18 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: SHORTS Evening, including Young Filmmakers Competition 2025/26 AWARDS
- Wed 18 Mar @ 21:15 @ Ciné Utopia: Never Had A Chance (EN), 102 mins
- Thu 19 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: I Swear (SC), 120 mins - OPENING SCREENING
- Thu 19 Mar @ 21:15 @ Ciné Utopia: From That Small Island (IE), 100 mins
- Fri 20 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: The Song Cycle (IE), 95 mins
- Fri 20 Mar @ 21 :15 @ Ciné Utopia: Testimony (EN, IE, IS, US), 105 mins
- Sat 21 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: The Soccermen (EN), 90 mins
- Sat 21 Mar @ 21:15 @ Ciné Utopia: Saipan (IE), 91 mins
- Sun 22 Mar @ 14:00 @ Ciné Utopia: The Marbles (EN), 114 mins
- Sun 22 Mar @ 16:30 @ Ciné Utopia: Mr Burton (WA, IE, CA, US), 124 mins
- Sun 22 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Baite (IE), 94 mins - CLOSING SCREENING & AWARDS
Geoff THOMPSON, Festival Organiser and President of Festival Events Asbl, stated: “We are delighted to be able to bring strong and creative storytelling from Britain and Ireland to Luxembourg screens, in the form of both informative documentaries and entertaining dramas, addressing issues from state care homes and cultural misappropriation, to behind the scenes in the world of football, from a team that had yet to win a match to a team going to the World Cup. We also address important issues of sustainability and social stigma associated with medical conditions such as Tourette Syndrome. We are thrilled to showcase the best of Luxembourg’s young filmmaking talent by way of the awards for the Young Filmmakers Competition 2025-26, for which we received over a dozen entries in Environment and Cultural Heritage categories. For our Opening Screening, we will present the acclaimed drama I SWEAR from Scotland, and with end with BAITE, an Irish-language mystery drama for our Closing Screening.”
For more detailed information on the programme, see https//www.festivalevents.lu
