"Barrage" will represent Luxembourg in the race for the 2018 Oscars
The National Selection Committee for the Oscars unanimously chose the film Dam by Laura Schroeder, co-produced in Luxembourg by Red Lion, to represent the Grand Duchy at the 90e Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film Award category.
The film, written by Laura Schroeder and French novelist Marie Nimier, is a drama about three generations of women, starring actress Lolita Chammah. Most of the film was shot near the Haute-Sûre lake in Luxembourg, Dam The cast also includes Isabelle Huppert and the young Thémis Pauwels. Luxembourg actors Charles Müller, Marja-Leena Juncker and Luc Schiltz complete the cast. Production in Luxembourg was handled by Pol Cruchten and Jeanne Geiben, with Nadine Chaussonnière and Vincent Quénault as executive producers; technicians included Christina Schaffer (set designer), Uli Simon (costumes), Katja Reinert-Alexis (make-up), Claude Kongs and Raoul Nadalet (special effects). Dam was financed by the Film Fund Luxembourg.
The film celebrated its world premiere in February 2017 in the Forum section of 67e This is the first feature film by a Luxembourg filmmaker to be officially selected at the Berlinale. The Luxembourg premiere took place in March 2017 at the Luxembourg City Film Festival. The film was also presented at the Vilnius Festival (Lithuania), the Titanic International Film Festival Budapest (Hungary), the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (Argentina), the Jeonju International Film Festival (South Korea), the Cinema Jove - Valencia International Film Festival (Spain) and the New Horizons International Film Festival (Wroclaw, Poland), among others. Dam was released in Luxembourg and French cinemas on 19 July 2017.
The nominations for "Best Foreign Film" will be announced on 23 January 2018.
The National Selection Committee for the Oscars is made up of 7 people representing the audiovisual sector:
- Nicole Dahlen, Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg
- Guy Daleiden, National Support Fund for Audiovisual Production
- Adolf El Assal, Union luxembourgeoise de la production audiovisuelle (ULPA)
- Claude Lahr, Directors and Scriptwriters Association (LARS)
- Sophie Langevin, Actors.lu
- Jim Probyn, Luxembourg Association of Audiovisual Technicians (ALTA)
- Yves Steichen, Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA)
