This year, Luxembourg is in the spotlight at the 81st Venice Film Festival, which is being held from 28 August to 7 September as part of the famous Biennale di Venezia (Contemporary Art Exhibition), particularly at the Venice Production Bridge, where it is sharing a joint focus with Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels) under the title "The Center of Attraction."
The Venice Production Bridge is the film market of the International Film Festival of Venice, which is taking place from 29 August to 3 September. It was created to foster networking, funding, and co-production opportunities in the international film industry. The Film Fund Luxembourg is being represented by a delegation of professionals from the audiovisual production sector, with promotional stands dedicated to classic and innovative projects.
Their Royal Highnesses, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, will honour the event with their presence, thus providing their prestigious support to all Luxembourgish creators, artists, and professionals. They are being accompanied by Luxembourg's Minister of Culture, Éric Thill, who will highlight the importance and high quality of the Luxembourg artistic scene while strengthening international cultural ties.
In order to showcase the dynamism and creativity of Luxembourg, the visit includes meetings with representatives of cultural institutions, a visit to the film market, panels dedicated to classic cinema and immersive works, as well as screenings of Luxembourgish XR creations selected for competition at the Festival.
The festival includes an international competition featuring a maximum of 21 world premiere feature-length films this year includes one Luxembourg co-production: YOUTH (HOMECOMING) by Wang Bing (Les Films Fauves).
The 3-day Venice Gap-Financing Market will present 61 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding. Luxembourg's involvement is this is based around the following:
FICTION & DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS:
- AMA by Yuki Kawamura (Les Films Fauves)
- DEATH HAS NO MASTER by Jorge Thielen Armand (Deal Productions)
- GLOBAL PROJECT by Ivo M. Ferreira (Tarantula Luxembourg)
- THE BLOOD COUNTESS by Ulrike Ottinger (Amour Fou Luxembourg)
IMMERSIVE PROJECTS
- TACHYCHRONIA by Gwenael François (Skill Lab)
- TEMPUS ALTERNA by Nimrod Shanit (a_BAHN)