Festival Events Asbl has announced the launch of the 17th British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg (BIFFL) 2026 Autumn Edition, with screenings taking place at Ciné Utopia and the Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité from Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 September 2026, alongside additional screenings before and after the core festival dates.

According to the festival organisers' press release, the 2026 Autumn Edition will feature twelve feature-length films across a range of genres, mainly representing independent cinema. The programme will also include a selection of short films, including a ten-minute documentary by the winners of the Young Filmmakers Competition 2025/26, as well as the launch of the Young Filmmakers Competition 2026/27.

The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg (BIFFL) 2026 Autumn Edition will have "Trad" as its official Opening Screening, an Irish comedy drama set in the world of traditional music, and will close with "Finding Emily", an English-American comedy drama. All films will receive their Luxembourg premieres during the festival.

Shorts Evening

The winners of the third Young Filmmakers Competition 2025/26 will have their documentary Galway: A City That Shaped Ireland screened as part of the Shorts Evening, alongside a number of other short films. 

The short films include:

  • A Vinyl Goodbye, 23 mins (documentary), by Garret Daly;
  • Bazaar, 15 mins (documentary), by Geoff Thompson;
  • Bowling Roads, 11 mins (documentary), by Laura Mahler;
  • Galway: A City That Shaped Ireland, 10 mins, by William Murray and Theo Fedorov;
  • Holly, 13 mins (drama), by Margaret Kane-Rowe;
  • Old Dogs, New Tricks, 14 mins (drama), by Maeve Shaw. 

Special Guests

A number of special guests are expected to attend the 2026 Autumn Edition, including:

  • Trad: Lance Daly (director) and Megan Nic Fhionnghaile (actor) - CONFIRMED;
  • Ballroom Boom: Billy McGrath (director) - CONFIRMED;
  • Once Upon a Time in a Cinema: David Gleeson (director).

Awards & Prizes

The edition will feature an Audience Award and an Audience Prize, with two entries winning a Magnum of Crémant from Bernard-Massard and a hamper from Home from Home. A Critics’ Award will also be presented with the involvement of members of the Association Luxembourgeoise de la Presse Cinématographique (ALPC). 

Tickets

Tickets cost €10 for screenings at both Ciné Utopia and the Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité and are available via Luxembourg-Ticket.lu. The BIFFL Presents... screening, organised in collaboration with Ciné Utopia, is available via Kinepolis.lu at commercial rates. Season Special Tickets cost €35, while Double Bill tickets cost €15 and are available via Luxembourg-Ticket.lu. Tickets may also be available at the venues before screenings, subject to availability.

Partners & Sponsors

The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg is held under the patronage of the Embassy of Ireland in Luxembourg and the British Embassy in Luxembourg.

The festival is supported by organisations including Screen Ireland, Culture Ireland, the Irish Film Institute, the Galway Film Fleadh, the City of Luxembourg (Ville de Luxembourg), Film Fund Luxembourg, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture, the PwC Luxembourg Foundation and the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, as well as through a financial contribution from Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme. 

The festival also enjoys support from its sponsors, community partners and media partners, including AraCityRadio, Chronicle.lu, RTL Today and l’Essentiel. According to the organisers, these organisations support community and cultural events through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

The festival has also announced three new community partners for this edition: the Scottish Culture Association Luxembourg, Rugby Club Luxembourg (RCL) and Think Pink Luxembourg.

Programme / Schedule

  • Tue 8 Sep @ 18:30 @ Ciné Utopia: Pressure (EN, FR), 100 mins
  • Sat 19 Sep @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Trad (IE), 94 mins - OPENING SCREENING
  • Sun 20 Sep @ 16:30 @ Ciné Utopia: Grow (SC), 107 mins
  • Sun 20 Sep @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Once Upon a Time in a Cinema (IE, DE, BE), 87 mins
  • Mon 21 Sep @ 19:00 @ Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité: The Siege of Paradise (IE, CH), 82 mins
  • Tue 22 Sep @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: 500 Miles (EN, IE, CY), 102 mins
  • Wed 23 Sep @ 19:00 @ Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité: SHORTS Evening (various), 94 mins
  • Thu 24 Sep @ 18:30 @ Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité: Freagairt na Gairme / Answering the Call (IE), 85 mins
  • Thu 24 Sep @ 20:30 @ Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité: An Irish Atlantic Rainforest (IE), 91 mins
  • Fri 25 Sep @ 19:00 @ Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité: Ballroom Boom (IE), 85 mins
  • Sat 26 Sep @ 19:00 @ Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité: Midwinter Break (SC, NL), 90 mins
  • Sun 27 Sep @ 18:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Finding Emily (EN, US), 111 mins - CLOSING SCREENING & AWARDS
  • Tue 13 Oct @ 18:30 @ Ciné Utopia: Wicker (EN, US), 105 mins. 

Geoff Thompson, Festival Organiser and President of Festival Events Asbl, stated: “At the British and Irish Film Festival Luxembourg we look at various social issues, for example poverty, homelessness, loneliness, immigration, diversity and integration, with cultural misappropriation, debilitating illnesses, etc., also being addressed. We have a varied programme lined up this autumn, with films addressing traditional Irish music, grief and relationships, and also documentaries addressing the environment and nature, the ballroom dance phenomenon of 1960s Irish showbands and over tourism. With the Cinémathèque closed for renovations, we are delighted to be able to hold screenings during the festival edition at the Cité Auditorium at the Cercle Cité, in addition to Luxembourg's only arthouse cinema, Ciné Utopia. We are also delighted to launch the Young Filmmakers Competition 2026-27, for which we look forward to revealing the new categories for this 4th edition of the competitions. We really hope that the programme has something for everyone, and we are looking forward to a great festival edition.”

For more detailed information on the programme, visit www.festivalevents.lu.