Luxembourg signs a coproduction treaty with Ireland
Minister for Communications and Media François Biltgen and his counterpart Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan have signed the first Irish Luxembourg Co-production Treaty at the Galway Film Fleadh.
Co-production agreement signed between Luxembourg and Ireland
On 9 July, François Biltgen, Minister for Communications, and his Irish counterpart Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, signed a bilateral treaty on audiovisual relations between Luxembourg and Ireland.
The signing ceremony took place in Ireland as part of the Galway International Film Festival in Connemara, on the west coast of the Green Isle. A large number of Luxembourg producers travelled to join the Irish filmmakers at the ceremony. Irish actor Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, In Bruges) graced the occasion with his presence and, in a short speech, expressed his satisfaction at the conclusion of this agreement, the aim of which is to intensify relations between the two countries. Brendan Gleeson is currently preparing "At swim-two-birds", his first feature film as a director. The screenplay is an adaptation for the big screen of Flann O'Brien's famous short story of the same name. The film will be co-produced in Luxembourg by producer Jani Thitges of Samsa Film.
During his speech, Minister Jimmy Deenihan read out a letter signed by actor Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing), who is currently Ireland's Ambassador for Cultural Affairs, in which he congratulated the two countries on taking the initiative of pooling their respective audiovisual skills and creativity. Minister François Biltgen expressed his satisfaction at the rapprochement with the Irish film industry: "The relations that our two sectors and our professionals have developed in the past represent a solid basis for generating future audiovisual projects of high artistic quality".
Three Luxembourg co-productions, Dernier étage gauche-gauche (Iris Productions), Sans queue ni tête (Samsa Film) and Anduni (Paul Thiltges Distributions) were on the bill at the 23rd Galway International Film Festival.
The festival also offered pitching sessions, which gave Luxembourg producers and the Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle an opportunity to find out about future audiovisual projects and find potential producers or distributors.
The Luxembourg and Irish Media Desks organised a co-production meeting between producers and representatives of public film institutes. Guy Daleiden, Director of the Lëtzebuerger Filmfong, and James Hickey, Director of the Irish Film Board, presented the various support mechanisms for financing audiovisual works that exist in the two countries. For example, Bernard Michaux from Luxembourg (Lucil Film) and his Irish colleague Macdara Kelleher (Fastnet Films) explained how they financed and produced the feature film 'The Runway', directed in 2009 by Ian Power. This adventure film, which won the Grand Prize at last year's Galway Festival, will be in cinemas in Luxembourg in October.
Irish company Fastnet is currently preparing its second feature film in Luxembourg. The film, Love Eternal by Irish director Brendan Muldowney, is being co-produced with Pol Cruchten's company (Red Lion). Filming will start on 29 August in Luxembourg.
Exerpts of the press release by the Irish Film Board:
...The Treaty aims to increase production between the two countries enabling both to benefit from joint access to the government's incentives and subsidies, as well as access to local markets and the opportunity to pool industry resources.
Commenting on the Treaty signing Minister Deenihan said "In an increasingly difficult economic environment, the film and television industry can help to create new jobs and spend on goods and services in Ireland. Co-production is of vital importance to the financing of the majority of Irish films and television production in Ireland, as well to the overall growth of the industry. For a country the size of Ireland there is no better way in which to raise international investment for projects of scale and it is fundamental to the way the industry is structured. Ireland is a small territory and it is difficult to finance in this market alone. Luxembourg has proved to be a very supportive partner to Ireland and we look forward to working together on many Irish and Luxembourg films."
Luxembourg Minister for Communications and Media François Biltgen said "Sixteen years of bilateral collaboration and friendship have been the RUNWAY for signing this Treaty which will hopefully bring long-lasting partnership between our two countries."
Recent Luxembourg Irish co-productions include THE RUNWAY which was produced by Fastnet Films and released in Irish cinemas last month. LOVE ETERNAL , to be directed by Brendan Muldowney (SAVAGE), is another Irish Luxembourg co-production which is set to go into production in August.
The signing was attended by Irish actor Brendan Gleeson who is currently developing a feature film AT SWIM TWO BIRDS which is to be co-produced by Irish company Parallel Films and Luxembourg producer Jani Thiltes. AT SWIM TWO BIRDS has an offer of support from both Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and Film Fund Luxembourg and is currently at financing stage. A a large number of Irish and Luxembourg producers who were attending the Galway Film Fleadh, were also at the signing.
European co-production also brings creates cultural benefits allowing for the increased exploitation of Irish films in our co-production territories and growing international audiences for Irish stories.
