Festival Events Asbl has announced the launch of the 16th British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg 2025 Spring Edition: most screenings will be held at Ciné Utopia, with the Shorts Evening at the Cinémathèque; while the core festival dates are from 22 – 29 March, two other screenings are being held before these dates.
According to the festival organisers' press release, the film festival provides a unique opportunity for viewers to experience a wide selection of new films from Britain and Ireland. The 2025 SPRING EDITION includes eleven feature-length films from a cross-section of genres and representing mainly independent cinema. In addition, they will be screening some short films, including a ten-minute documentary from the winners of the Young Filmmakers Competition 2023/24, plus the holding of the Awards for the Young Filmmakers Competition 2024/25, the top prize being two Industry Passes to the Galway Film Fleadh 2025.
The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg (BIFFL) 2025 SPRING EDITION will have “Fidil Ghorm (The Blue Fiddle)” as its official Opening Screening, an Irish-language drama (with EN sub-titles), and will close with “Patrick - A Slave To Ireland”, a documentary on St Patrick in a European context. All films will be receiving their Luxembourg premiers during the festival.
SHORTS EVENING
The winners of the inaugural Young Filmmakers Competition 2023/24 will have their documentary Being Human screened as part of this evening, along with Dear Imelda (IE) and Give Him Time (IE).
Excerpts of the 12 entries for the 2024/25 competition will be screened, with the top two in their entirety. The entries were:
1. Komm Mat, Komm Mat, by Carlotta Thomas, Lënster Lycée
2. Define Freedom by Noah Piff, International School at Differdange, EIDE
3. My Mom Was Right by Al'aa Akram Aiash, Lycée Michel Lucius
4. La Dernière Gorgée by Nina Zimmer & Salomé-Ange Wilk, Lënster Lycée
5. Beer by Elliot Esposito, International School at Differdange, EIDE
6. Raven by Philip Mate, European School 1
7. Beautiful Boy by Cathy Diagne, International School at Differdange, EIDE
8. The Stand on the Corner by Anna Silenchuk, ISL
9. I Wish by Daria Gorchakova, ISL
10. Runaway by Daria Gorchakova, ISL
11. On the Other Side by Antoine Merkling, Andrei Ionescu, Evan Knel, Edgar Portal, Lycée Vauban
12. Incolume by Lucie Reisen, ISL
SPECIAL GUESTS
A number of Special Guests will be introducing their films and participating in post-screening Q&As during the 2025 Spring Edition, including:
• Fidil Ghorm: Anne McCabe (director)
• Kathleen is Here: Eva Birthistle (director), Hazel Doupe (actor)
• Dear Imelda (short): Árón Holden (director), Declan Curran (actor)
BIFFL PRESENTS…
Following on from other such special screenings, Festival events is teaming up with Ciné Utopia for a special screening: Hard Truths on Tuesday 18 March.
AWARDS & PRIZES
This edition also features both an Audience Award as well as Audience Prizes, and also a Critics’ Award, with the involvement of members of the Association Luxembourgeoise de la Presse Cinématographique (ALPC).
TICKETS
Ticket prices depend on the venue: €3.70 & €2.40 for the Cinémathèque, and €10 for Ciné Utopia. Most tickets are available via Luxembourg-Ticket.lu, apart from the BIFFL Presents… screening in collaboration with Ciné Utopia (tickets for this screening are on sale at Kinepolis.lu) at commercial rates. The popular Season Special Tickets are available for €35, and the Documentary Double Bill for €15, by calling Luxembourg-Ticket.lu. Tickets may also be available at the venues prior to screenings, depending on availability.
PARTNERS & SPONSORS
The British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg is held under the patronage of both the Embassy of Ireland in Luxembourg and the British Embassy in Luxembourg, with the support of a number of organisations in Ireland and Luxembourg, including community partners which represent the community aspect of the festival.
PROGRAMME / SCHEDULE
• Tue 18 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: BIFFL Presents… Hard Truths (EN, ES), 97 mins, tickets
• Wed 19 Mar @ 18:30 @ Cinémathèque: SHORTS Evening, including Young Filmmakers Competition 2024/25 AWARDS
• Sat 22 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Fidil Ghorm (The Blue Fiddle) (IE), 84 mins - OPENING SCREENING
• Sun 23 Mar @ 15:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Charlie Chaplain: The Spirit of the Tramp (EN, FR, ES, NL), 90 mins
• Sun 23 Mar @ 17:30 @ Ciné Utopia: The Ballad of Wallis Island (EN), 100 mins
• Mon 24 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: The Future Tense (NI), 89 mins
• Mon 24 Mar @ 21:30 @ Ciné Utopia: I Dream in Photos (IE), 80 mins
• Tue 25 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Dead Man's Money (NI), 82 mins
• Wed 26 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: The Flight of Bryan (EN), 99 mins
• Thu 27 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Kathleen is Here (IE), 95 mins
• Fri 28 Mar @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Touch / Snerting (IS, EN, JP), 121 mins
• Sat 29 Sep @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Patrick - A Slave to Ireland (IE), 90 mins - CLOSING SCREENING & AWARDS
Geoff THOMPSON, Festival Organiser and President of Festival Events Asbl, stated: “It was wonderful to see films we screened last year winning awards. KNEECAP scooped four IFTAs (Best Director, Casting, Costume Design, Editing) and a BAFTA (Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer), and SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE won three IFTAs (Best Film, Director, Lead Actor). We have already had a couple of screenings this winter/spring, with HOUSEWIFE OF THE YEAR on 30 January as a St Brigid's Day Screening, and DRY RIVER in collaboration with VAASSE Sarl, at which the director Daniel Simpson came over for a post-screening Q&A in February. We are collaborating with the Luxembourg City Film Festival on Tuesday 11 March for the screening of POISON, a Luxembourg-England co-production, filmed mainly in Vianden. We have a really interesting line-up of screenings at our Spring Edition, with a strong emphasis on documentaries as films of this fact-based genre have almost always scored well in the past for our Audience Award. We also have a charming Irish-language drama AN FIDIL GHORM which will be our Opening Screening, with a new documentary on St Patrick - PATRICK - A SLAVE TO IRELAND - as our Closing Screening.”
For more detailed information on the programme, see https//www.festivalevents.lu
