2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of TARANTULA in Luxembourg.
According to the film production and distribution company, "For three decades, the editorial line of our productions has remained faithful to the commitment and love for an auteur cinema that questions our society. Tarantula is an active player in cinema production, with excellent visibility on the European market. Our first feature film produced in 2002, Une part du ciel by Bénédicte Liénard, quickly catapulted us onto the international scene, with a selection at the Cannes Film Festival in the “Un Certain Regard” section. Produced in a spirit of openness towards Luxembourg's neighbouring countries, this international co-production strategy has never left us. The network of production companies under the Tarantula banner has grown over many years and focuses today on two countries: Luxembourg and Belgium. We strengthened this strategy by creating Tarantula Distribution almost 15 years ago, to support projects from script to distribution."
Donato Rotunno, Tarantula Luxembourg's historic founder, is still CEO and majority shareholder. President of the Union Luxembourgeoise des Producteurs de l'Audiovisuel, he divides his time between his role as producer and director. This dual role enables him to better understand the needs of creation and production. Tarantula's strength and longevity also lie in the loyalty of its team, some of whom have been with the company for over fifteen years. Régis Andres, chief financial officer since 2009, oversees the financial management of the company and its productions. Fernand de Amorin started working at Tarantula in 2011 and is now the Executive Producer. He is responsible for managing and monitoring productions from the writing and development stages to the final product. Emilie Lacourt, who also joined in 2011, is in charge of promotion and distribution via Tarantula Distribution, and for the past five years has supervised the post-production stages of the company's projects. Finally, Krystal Wipf, who joined in 2023, is its production assistant, supporting them in all their endeavours.
For its 30th anniversary, Tarantula is preparing an eventful year. Here is a glimpse of what is in store...
Upcoming releases in 2025
Premieres, TV broadcasts and theatrical releases are to be expected in 2025 for Tarantula’s (co)productions throughout the year, starting with Horizonte by Colombian director César Augusto Acevedo, produced by Inercia Peliculas (Colombia) and Ciné-Sud Promotion (France) and co-produced by Tarantula (Luxembourg) and Quijote Films (Chile). Having premiered in Toronto (TIFF) in September 2024, the film is scheduled for release on 26 March at Ciné Utopia.
Portuguese director Ivo Marques Ferreira's six-episode mini-series Global Project will air on RTL in the spring, followed by the feature film of the same title in cinemas in autumn 2025. Co-produced with O Som e a Fúria (Portugal), the film and series will plunge us into Portugal in the late 70s, a few years after the Carnation Revolution, where one follows a clandestine far-left group disenchanted with the post-revolution state of the country.
Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's thriller The Serpent’s Path, produced by Cinéfrance Studios (France) and co-produced by Tarantula (Belgium and Luxembourg) and Kadokawa Corporation (Japan), will be released in June 2025 in France and Luxembourg.
In autumn, the animated VR experience, co-produced with Cassette for Timescapes (Belgium) and Valk Productions (Netherlands), The time of a moment by Belgian directors Kate Voet and Victor Maes will offer a magical experience about transformation, loneliness and loss, but above all about love.
At the same time, two feature films are still to be seen in Luxembourg cinemas: Exile by Tunisian director Mehdi Hmili (whose second feature, Streams, Tarantula produced and presented at Locarno in 2021) and Live for me by Dutch director Mark de Cloe, co-produced with Rinkel Film (Netherlands), which will be released in Luxembourg in dubbed and subtitled versions. Marie Jung is in the cast of this moving true story of two teenage girls, which shook the Netherlands in 2004.
Finally, following the success of Donato Rotunno's documentary What’s Left? at the end of 2024, a DVD release is scheduled in March. This will be followed by the director's new documentary: Capitales Europe - la bataille des sièges, currently being filmed, which is also due for release at the end of the year. The great history of Europe is told through the little stories of the capitals: Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels. The three cities housing the headquarters of the main European institutions were chosen after an unfinished battle between national interests, visions of Europe and personalities determined to make their views prevail.
Currently shooting…
Filming of Turkish director Yeşim Ustaoğlu's feature film What Remains, which began at the end of 2024, continues at the start of this year. Produced by Ustaoğlu Film Production (Turkey) in co-production with Tarantula (Luxembourg), Cité Films (France) and RFF International (Bulgaria), this film tells us the courageous journey of a poetess, Elif, who frees herself from a world in which she feels trapped.
Levan Koguashvili's Georgian feature film Guria will resume shooting in March after a break of several months. One follows the trials and tribulations of Zuriko, a hazelnut farmer, and his son Achi, in the 1990s in Guria, a poor region of western Georgia.
In June 2025, Ann Oren's next feature film, Objet A, will begin shooting in Germany and Luxembourg, with Vicky Krieps and Louis Hofmann in the lead roles. Ann Oren made a name for herself at the Locarno Film Festival in 2022 with her debut feature Piaffe, which also screened at the Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival and at the Luxembourg City Film Festival in 2023. Objet A tells the story of Ingeborg (Vicky Krieps), a kleptomaniac surgeon, who shares her life with Adam, also a surgeon. Their lives are turned upside down by the arrival of Gaia, a mysterious and enigmatic woman who has a unique connection with nature, particularly the forest.
Further announcements and details of all these projects will be announced throughout the year.
To celebrate Tarantula's 30 years of cinema, they will hold a party at Casino Luxembourg which will take place on 8 March 2025 during the Luxembourg City Film Festival (by invitation only)
