Luxembourg's day at the 71st Cannes Film Festival

The traditional Luxembourg Day organised in the Luxembourg pavilion as part of the 71^e edition of the Cannes Film Festival took place on Friday 11 May in the presence of the Luxembourg Ambassador to Paris, Martine Schommer, representatives of the national audiovisual sector - in particular those of the associations of producers, directors, actors and technicians - and members of the Film Fund.

Guy Daleiden, director of the Film Fund, gave an overview of the situation since the last festival: 31 feature films have been produced and new grants (CineWorld, Carte Blanche and music videos) have been launched. For 2019, further cross-cultural initiatives will be announced in the coming months.

As for developments in the sector, the Fund's Director explained that a new evaluation scheme for selective financial aid is currently being negotiated with the trade associations concerned and should come into force shortly.

The Luxembourg day ended with another tradition: a cocktail party to bring together Luxembourg professionals and their international partners.

Following the signing of the new audiovisual co-production treaty with Canada and the launch of the call for projects as part of the incentives for co-development of audiovisual projects, Canada's Minister of Culture and Communications and Minister responsible for the Protection and Promotion of the French Language, Marie Montpetit, visited the Luxembourg pavilion to discuss the benefits of these agreements.

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, also visited the Luxembourg pavilion and discussed with the Fund's representatives developments in the sectors mentioned during the visit to Luxembourg by a delegation of Swiss producers last March.

At the Film Market, which attracts around 12,000 professionals each year, Luxembourg is present for the 16th time running with a pavilion in the International Village. This pavilion is the headquarters and workplace for Luxembourg filmmakers, producers and the press, who turned out in force once again this year: 19 companies are represented, with a total of around 80 people working in the audiovisual sector in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

In addition to the Luxembourg films presented at the market, including Murer (Paul Thiltges Distributions) and Finding Jakob (Samsa Film), extracts from the first animated feature film 'Pachamamaco-produced by Doghouse Filmswere broadcast in Work In Progress as part of the Annecy Goes to Cannes.

Cannes Festival : www.festival-cannes.fr

Film market : www.marchedufilm.com

Pavillon du Luxembourg (from 8 to 17 May - 09.00-19.00) - Tel: +33 4 92 590226