Credit: Chronicle.lu

On Wednesday 12 February 2025, the Luxembourg City Film Festival launched its programme for the 15th annual festival which will take place from Thursday 6 to Sunday 16 March 2025; the press conference was held at the Cinémathèque and was delivered primarily in French.

Lydie Polfer, Mayor of Luxembourg City, mentioned that this festival would be the last to be held at the Cinémathèque for a number of years as it will be undergoing renovations from early 2026 for a period of four years, with a second screening room also being added in what is now a courtyard, as well as restaurant and an education room in the new city centre complex. She congratulated the festival in reaching its 15th anniversary.

Georges Santer, President of the Luxembourg City Film Festival, also referenced the refurbishment of the Cinémathèque and talked about all the emotions that audiences feel when watching films in cinemas. He reeled off a series of statistics on the number of people that have attended previous festivals, from both the Grand Duchy and internationally, and also mentioned about the huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to create each edition of the festival.

Eric Thill, Luxembourg's Minister of Culture, spoke in Luxembourgish (and some in French) and talked about the Luxembourg film industry and the film sector here.

Nicole Dahlen, of the Cinémathèque, also addressed the forthcoming closure of the cinema and their intention to use the Théâtre des Capucins for screenings in its regular programme; she also thanked everyone involved in the operation of the Cinémathèque. She also talked about the new selection committee for choosing the films to be screened during the festival.

Guy Daleiden, Director at Film Fund Luxembourg, talked about the 15th anniversary of the festival and the collaboration with, and support from, the Film Fund. He spoke about the exhibition "Entre Réfexions et Immersion" at the Cercle Cité from 7 February to 6 April 2025, organised within the framework of the Immersive Pavilion of the festival (vernissage on Wednesday 5 March), adding that there are traditional exhibits too. He also spoke about the three-person international jury for the VR component which comprises eleven entries, some of which are Luxembourgish (co-)productions. He also highlighted the Made in Luxembourg Video Games component, and concluded by announcing the Immersive Days on 4 and 5 March at the Cercle Cité and Abbaye de Neumünster, respectively.

Alexis Juncosa, Artistic Director of the Luxembourg City Film Festival, then presented the festival programme which covered an extensive array of categories from films in competitions, shorts, series, documentaries, as well as the juries, the industry days, masterclasses, concerts and other events, etc.

Gladys Lazareff, CEO of the Luxembourg City Film Festival, then presented details of the Jeune Public programme and related events.

Programme (screenings) take-aways:

- Hot Milk by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (with Vicky Krieps, Opening film)
- La Cache (Luxembourg co-production) by Lionel Baier (Awards film)
- The Thing with Feathers by Dylan Southern (UK, Closing film)
- Dark Match by Lowell Dean (horror, Canada, official selection, out of competition)
- Good One by India Donaldson (drama, US, official selection, out of compettion)
- Hard Truths by Mike Leigh (EN, official selection, out of compettion)
- The Salt Path by Marianne Elliott (UK, drama, official selection, out of compettion)
- Your Monster by Caroline Lindy (US, comedy horror, official selection, out of compettion)
- Bring Them Down by Christopher Andrews (EN/IE, Carte Blanche)
- Poison by Désirée Nosbusch (LU/NL/BE/DE, in English, Made in Luxembourg)
- Invention by Courtney Stephens (US, documentary, in competition)
- On Falling by Laura Carreira (EN/PT, in competition)

Of special note: Paul Laverty, scénariste who has worked on Ken Loach's last three films (The Old Oak, Sorry We Missed You, I, Daniel Blake) was announced as a member of the International Jury. Also, Tim Roth (Poison) will deliver a masterclass in person on 12 March at 14:00 at the Cinémathèque.

Full details (programme, ticketing which include a new 30/30 ticket for U30 to see 15 films for €30; most tickets cost €9.50; festival pass €50 for 10 tickets) are available online at https://www.luxfilmfest.lu/; most film screenings will be at the Cinémathèque, Kinepolis and Ciné Utopia.

ED