L-R: His Excellency the British Ambassador to Luxembourg, John Marshall; Geoff Thompson from G-Medial sarl, organiser of the British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg; Credit: Jazmin Campbell

G-Media sarl, with the support of the Irish Club of Luxembourg, today announced the launch of the 10th anniversary "British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg" to be held over ten days from Friday 13 September until Sunday 22 September 2019.

The film festival provides a unique opportunity for viewers to experience a wide selection of new films from Britain and Ireland. The ten-day event will screen 16 feature-length films, from a cross-section of genres and representing mainly independent cinema, as well as a shorts programme.

For the first nine years, the annual event has been known as the "British & Irish Film Season": as it has organised seminars, workshops and other events outside screening rooms, the organisers have changed the name of the event to the "British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg" in time for its 10th anniversary, and have had a new logo designed. And as this is the 10th anniversary, there will be many treats and surprises in store for festival attendees. Indeed, the programme this year includes a series of photographs from the nine years of the festival up to now; these have been also used in one of the two trailers created for the festival.

The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg will have screenings across three venues, Ciné Utopia in Limpertsberg, Kinepolis in Kirchberg and the Cinémathèque in Luxembourg-ville and will kick off with the screening of “Extra Ordinary” a comedy drama with the tag-line “putting the normal in paranormal”, and will close with the avant-premiere of the long-awaited big-screen version of “Downton Abbey”. One Luxembourg co-production will be featured, “Never Grow Old” by Iris Productions. All films will be receiving their Luxembourg premieres during the ten days of the festival, excluding two to be screened in a Vintage Evening ("Chariots of Fire" and "Educating Rita").

This year, the festival "Awards" will feature both an "Audience Award", with one entry winning two Luxair flights to Dublin or London City, as well as an "Audience Prize" and a "Critics’ Award", with the involvement of members of the Association Luxembourgeoise de la Presse Cinématographique (ALPC).

Moreover, for this year’s 10th anniversary programme, the opening shall include the cutting of a celebratory cake, as well as the introduction of a new "Ciné Cuisine" event,  featuring both a free whisky tasting and a walking brunch around a shorts programme. This year's "Documentary Double Bill" features two films on aviation, one on the centenary of the first transatlantic flight and the other featuring an octogenarian bachelor farmer. There will also be another "Sunday Matinee" children’s screening following last year’s success and the audience will once again have the opportunity to meet actors, directors and producers at a number of the events, including intimate Q&A sessions post-screenings. 

As in previous years, the British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg will include another component to the festival programme, with a film quiz being held outside the main festival, on 9 October 2019. This will be open to teams of four who will compete for various prizes including return flights to either London City or Dublin.

The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg has been supported again by both the "Edinburgh International Film Festival" and the "Galway Film Fleadh", where most of the films of this year’s line-up were premiered. The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg has also received support from the Irish Film Institute and the Luxembourg Film Fund, as well as the patronage and financial contribution of the British Embassy and the Embassy of Ireland in Luxembourg, including Ambassador John Marshall, Ambassador Peadar Carpenter and Ambassador Stephen Dawson.

The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg also enjoys support from its Silver Sponsors - Banque Havilland and Sunflower Montessori-, Bronze Sponsors - Kerry Luxembourg and BGL BNP Paribas-, and many partners including Luxair, DHL, the Hotel Parc Alvisse, Bernard Massard, Casino2000, Villeroy & Boch, Concept Factory, Kathy's Cupcakery, the New Delhi restaurant and Home from Home, and its media partners AraCityRadio, Chronicle.lu, Delano and City Savvy Luxembourg. 

PROGRAMME

  • Fri 13 Sep @ Kinepolis Kirchberg @ 19:00: Opening & Extra Ordinary (IE, 94 mins), by Mike Ahern & Enda Loughma
  • Sat 14 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: Rosie (IE, 86 mins) by Paddy Breathnach (written by Roddy Doyle)
  • Sat 14 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 21:30: Robert the Bruce (SC, 123 mins) by Richard Gray
  • Sun 15 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 14:00: The Kid Who Would be King (EN/US, 120 mins) by Joe Cornish
  • Sun 15 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:30: The Amber Light (SC, 93 mins) by Adam Park, followed by a Free Whisky Tasting
  • Mon 16 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: The Flip Side (EN/AU, 90 mins) by Marion Pilowsky
  • Mon 16 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 21:30: Gwen (WA, 84 mins) by William McGregor
  • Tue 17 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 18:30: Alcock & Brown, the True Story (IE, 88) by Kevin Glynn
  • Tue 17 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: The Man Who Wanted To Fly (IE, 82) by Frank Shouldice
  • Wed 18 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 18:30: The Spirit of the Game (LU, 77 mins) by Liam McEvoy
  • Wed 18 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: The Grandisons (EN, 70 mins) by Jamie Benyon
  • Thurs 19 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 18:30: Chariots of Fire (EN, 125 mins) by Hugh Hudson (1981)
  • Thurs 19 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: Educating Rita (EN/IR, 110 mins) by Lewis Gilbert (1983)
  • Fri 20 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 18:30: Hurt by Paradise (EN, 82 mins) by Greta Bellamacina
  • Fri 20 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: Never Grow Old (IE/LU/BE/FR, 100 mins) by Ivan Kavanagh
  • Sat 21 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: Awards & Downton Abbey (EN, 122 mins) by Michael Engler
  • Sun 22 Sep @ Kinepolis Kirchberg @ 13:30: Shorts Programme, preceded by a Brunch

Confirmed special guests include: actor Angus MacFayden ("Robert the Bruce"); director Adam Park ("The Amber Light"); director Kevin Glynn ("Alcock & Brown, the True Story"); director Frank Shouldice ("The Man Who Wanted To Fly"); director Liam McEvoy ("The Spirit of the Game"); director Jamie Benyon and actor Julian Nest ("The Grandisons"); director/writer/actor Greta Bellamacina and actor Robert Montgomery ("Hurt by Paradise"); director Ivan Kavanagh, plus cast and crew ("Never Grow Old"). 

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

The "Season Special Ticket" will be available again for purchase online, enabling festival-goers to see five films for approximately the price of three standard cinema tickets (€30). For more information on ticket pricing and purchase of tickets for individual screenings, please visit www.bifilmseason.lu, with tickets being sold this year from www.luxembourg-ticket.lu. Ticketing will also be available at the venues prior to screenings, depending on availability.