Luxembourg cinema gets 2017 off to a flying start

2017 looks to be a promising year for our national productions, with 3 official selections at the Berlinale (09-19.02.2017) including:

- " Dam "A co-production directed by Luxembourgish Laura Schroeder (Red Lion). world premiere in the 'Forum' section
- " Es war einmal in Deutschland... "A co-production directed by Sam Garbarski (Samsa Film). Berlinale Special Gala' section
- " Richard the Stork "A co-production (3D animation) directed by Toby Genkel and Reza Memari (Melusine Productions). in competition in the 'Generation Kplus' section

In addition, "Dead Noon", a project in development by Luxembourg director Jeff Desom (Samsa Film), is one of 36 projects from 29 countries selected for the 14th European Film Festival.^e edition of the Berlinale co-production market and will be presented to a panel of co-producers, experts, distributors and international financial partners. 

Also at the Berlinale, 2 Luxembourg companies were chosen from among 10 start-ups at the European Film Market, which since 2015 has hosted theEFM Startups to present the new tools and strategies they are developing for cinema and audiovisual professionals. The company in question is realab with its 'Virtelio(a virtual reality editing software) and the company Aiva Technologies with its product Aiva (an artificial intelligence that composes classical music).

In January, other major international festivals have also selected Luxembourg co-productions:

Palm Springs International Film Festival (02-16.01.2017):
- " Wedding "A feature film directed by Stephan Streker and co-produced by Tarantula Luxembourg. in selection 'World Cinema now - US Premiere'.
- " Souvenir "A feature film directed by Bavo Defurne and co-produced by Deal Productions. in the 'World Cinema now - US Premiere' selection.
- " Ethel & Ernest "an animated feature film directed by Roger Mainwood and co-produced by Melusine Productions. in the 'World Cinema now - US Premiere' selection.

Sundance Film Festival (19-29.01.2017):

- " MappaMundi "Science-fiction film (45′) directed by Bady Minck and produced by Amour Fou Luxembourg. World Premiere - in competition in the short film section and selected in the 'New Frontier' section

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis (23-29.01.2017)

- " Die Nacht der 1000 Stunden "A feature film directed by Virgil Widrich and co-produced by Amour Fou Luxembourg with Amira Casar and Laurence Rupp. as the opening film.
- " Long Lost "A short fiction film directed by Nadia Masri and produced by Amour Fou Luxembourg, starring Tommy Schlesser, Luc Schiltz and Julie Kieffer. competing in the
short film section.

On the bill for the first nominations 2017 of major international awards:

- Austrian Film Prize (Österreichischer Filmpreis): 5 nominations for " Egon Schiele "by Dieter Berner (Amour Fou Luxembourg) - Best Film, Best Actress for 2 actresses, Best Director, Best Screenplay and 2 nominations for " Die Nacht der 1000 Stunden "by Virgil Widrich (Amour Fou Luxembourg) - Best Screenplay and Best Costume Design. The awards ceremony will take place on 1^er February in Vienna.

- The Magritte of Belgian cinema1 nomination for " The song of men "by Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jimenez (Tarantula Luxembourg) - Best Original Score. The winners of the 7th^eThe winners of the Magritte Awards will be announced on 4 February.

On the theatrical releases in Luxembourg, the co-production " Souvenir "by Bavo Defurne (Deal Productions) starring Isabelle Huppert and Kevin Azaïs will be released on Wednesday 18 January at Utopia (http://www.utopolis.lu/en/movies/4332) and " Rusty Boys "Andy Bausch's new film, starring André Jung, Fernand Fox, Marco Lorenzini and Pol Greisch (Paul Thiltges Distributions), will be in cinemas from Wednesday 25 January.

Note that the film " Egon Schiele "by Dieter Berner (Amour Fou Luxembourg) is still playing at the Utopia (http://www.utopolis.lu/en/movies/4289).