G-Media sarl, with the support of the Irish Club of Luxembourg, today announced the launch of the 11th annual British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg to be held over nine days from Friday 18 September until Saturday 26 September 2020, with a "teaser" event tomorrow evening, Tuesday 8 September.
The film festival provides a unique opportunity for viewers to experience a wide selection of new films from Britain and Ireland. The 9-day event will screen 14 feature-length films, from a cross-section of genres and representing mainly independent cinema, as well as a couple of short films.
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 open with the screening of “The High Note” a British-American drama set in the music industry, and will close with the Luxembourg premier of the long-awaited Ireland-Luxembourg-Belgium co-production “The Racer”, a drama set in the world of professional cycling. All but one films will be receiving their Luxembourg premiers during the 9 days of the festival.
Geoff THOMPSON, Festival Organiser, addresses the challenge of organising a festival in 2020 under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The cinemas are currently open but operating at just 25% capacity, with a reduced number of screenings, as they ensure physical distancing and increased hygiene cleaning of screening rooms between performances. However, we have 10+ years’ experience of working with the Cinémathèque, Ciné Utopia and Kinepolis-Kirchberg and we are sure with the attractive line-up that we will have a great festival this year.” He added “Unfortunately, we don’t have our traditional Documentary Double Bill and we cannot either have our Vintage Evening this year, and neither will we be able to have our Ciné Cuisine or receptions after some of the films. However, we will be distributing gifts at a couple of the screenings and we will be providing personalised hand sanitisers; also, we have also introduced a range of ticket bundles this year”. He concluded with “Nevertheless, we will be holding two online events, a “Shorts Seminar” and our popular Film Quiz will also be held online.”
The audience will also have the privilege of meeting actors, directors and producers at at least nine of the screenings, including intimate Q&A sessions post-screenings – the organisers are delighted to continue this tradition with some great guests this year. All Q&As this year, apart from the Luxembourg co-production, will be done remotely with the special guests beamed into the screening rooms.
For cinema-enthusiast to film-making students alike, this is a rare opportunity to learn more about the world of film production and meet some of the interesting players in British and Irish cinema today. For more detailed information on the programme, see www.bifilmseason.lu.
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 14 October. This will be open to teams of two to four people who will compete for exciting prizes. The Shorts Seminar will be online too (in collaboration with the Ireland Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce; free to attend) on 23 September and will feature four experts, including the Shorts Programmer from the Galway Film Fleadh, a representative of Film Fund Luxembourg and two film-makers, one from Ireland and one from Luxembourg.
This year the Awards will feature both an Audience Award as well as an Audience Prize, with one entry winning a Magnum of Crémant from Bernard-Massard, and also a Critics’ Award, with the involvement of members of the Association Luxembourgeoise de la Presse Cinématographique (ALPC).
Tickets cost €9 per person per film (plus admin fee), with ticketing again with Luxembourg-Ticket.lu. The popular Season Special Ticket will be available for purchase online at €35, with ticketing bundles also available (2 for €15 or 3 for €20). For more information on ticket pricing and purchase of tickets for individual screenings, please visit www.bifilmseason.lu. Ticketing will also be available at the venues prior to screenings, depending on availability.
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 British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg line-up were premiered. The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg is also grateful for the support of the Irish Film Institute and the Luxembourg Film Fund, as well as the patronage and financial contribution of the Embassy of Ireland in Luxembourg, including the support of both Ambassador Stephen Dawson and Ambassador John Marshall.
The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg also enjoys support from its sponsors, specifically this year when many organisations have been hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bronze Sponsors include Banque Havilland, BGL BNP Paribas and the Ireland Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, and the partners include DHL, Bernard Massard and Home from Home, and its media partners: AraCityRadio, Chronicle.lu, Delano and Moien.lu. Geoff Thompson stated "The festival is indebted to these organisations for their support through their commitment to supporting community and cultural events through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)."
PROGRAMME
• Tue 8 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: The Personal History of David Copperfield (EN, US, 119 mins) by Armando Iannucci - a number of tickets for this Avant-Premier which is outside the main festival are available
• Fri 18 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: The High Note (EN, US, CH, 113 mins) by Nisha Ganatra
• Fri 18 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 21:30: Strange But True (EN, CA, 95 mins) by Rowan Athale
• Sat 19 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 16:30: Sulphur & White (EN, 121 mins) by Julian Jarrold (Q&A with director Julian Jarrold)
• Sat 19 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: A Bump Along the Way (NI, 95 mins) by Shelly Love (Q&A with producer Louise Gallagher and actor Bronagh Gallagher)
• Sat 19 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 21:30: I See You (EN, US, 96 mins) by Adam Randall
• Sun 20 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 16:30: The Tribe of Gods (IE, FR, 92 mins) by Loïc Jourdain – in Irish with EN sub-titles (Q&A with film-maker Loïc Jourdain)
• Sun 20 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:30: The Keeper (EN, DE, 120 mins) by Marcus H. Rosenmüller
• Mon 21 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: The Last Right (IE, 106 mins) by Aoife Crehan (Q&A with director/writer Aoife Crehan)
• Tue 22 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: The Castle (IE, LI, 115 mins) by Lina Luzyte (Q&A with director/co-writer Lina Luzyte)
• Wed 23 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: Arracht (IE, 86 mins) by Tom Sullivan - in Irish with EN sub-titles (Q&A with actor Seán T. Ó Meallaigh)
• Thurs 24 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: Bruno (IE, EN, 94 mins) by Karl Golden (Q&A with actor Diarmaid Murtagh)
• Fri 25 Sep @ Cinémathèque @ 20:30: Breaking Ice (IE, 70 mins) by Jason Branagan (Q&A with director Jason Branagan)
• Sat 26 Sep @ Ciné Utopia @ 19:00: Awards & The Racer (IE, LU, BE, 97 mins) by Kieron J. Walsh (Q&A with co-producer Jesus Gonsalez and director Kieron J. Walsh.
