Gutland chosen to defend the Luxembourg flag at the 2019 Oscars!
The National Selection Committee for the Oscars has chosen the film Gutlandproduced by Les Films Fauvesto represent the Grand Duchy at the 91e Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film Award category.
This film, written and directed by Govinda van Maele from Luxembourg, is a rural crime thriller in which a young German delinquent finds refuge in a small Luxembourg village. The peasants' attitude towards him, suspicious at first, changes radically when he befriends Lucy, the mayor's daughter. As he gradually finds his place in the community, it seems he's not the only one trying to prevent the past from resurfacing.
Shot in various villages in the Oesling region and on the plateaux of Gutland, the film's cast includes Frederick Lau and Luxembourg actors Vicky Krieps and Marco Lorenzini. Production in Luxembourg was handled by Gilles Chanial and Jean-Louis Schuller, with technicians Narayan Van Maele (director of photography), Audrey Hernu (art director) and Fabienne Adam (make-up).
Gutland celebrated its world premiere in September 2017 in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. The Luxembourg premiere took place in February 2018 as part of the Luxembourg City Film Festival, where the film won the Audience Award. Gutland has also been selected for over 30 international festivals and the major festivals on every continent: Tokyo International Film Festival (Japan), Palm Springs International Film Festival (United States), International Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands), Angers Premiers Plans Festival (France). It was recently awarded "Best International First Feature" at the Galway Film Fleadh (Ireland).
The film was released in Luxembourg and Germany in May 2018; it is due for release in Belgium on 12 September and in France on 9 November.
The nominations for "Best Foreign Film" will be announced on 22 January 2019.
The National Selection Committee for the Oscars is made up of 7 people representing the audiovisual sector:
- Vesna Andonovic (Journalist)
- Aude-Laurence Clermont Biver (Actors.lu)
- Nicole Dahlen (Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg)
- Guy Daleiden (Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle)
- Raoul Nadalet (Luxembourg Audiovisual Production Union - ULPA)
- Jim Probyn (Association luxembourgeoise des techniciens de l'audiovisuel - ALTA)
- Julie Schroell (Directors and Scriptwriters Association - LARS)
