Xavier Bettel in Berlin for the 66th Berlinale
15/02/2016 - 20/02/2016
On 15 February 2016, Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister for Culture, Communication and the Media, travelled to Berlin to attend the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. At the invitation of Monika Grütters, Minister of State for Culture and the Media of the Federal Republic of Germany, Xavier Bettel took part in an informal meeting of European culture ministers. Discussions focused on the challenges facing the European film industry in the digital age, the financing and distribution of European film productions, and strategies for safeguarding and digitalising the film heritage.
On the fringes of the festival, the Prime Minister also awarded the medal of "Chevalier de l'ordre de la Couronne de chêne" to the Director General of the Filmförderunganstalt (FFA), Peter Dinges, and to the Director General of the Österreichisches Filminstitut, Roland Teichmann, in recognition of their merits, commitments and activities in favour of the development of European cinema. "Peter Dinges and Roland Teichmann have been working for many years with great dedication, in their respective roles, to promote European cinema," Xavier Bettel emphasised at the award ceremony. He continued: "It is their exemplary and friendly relations with Luxembourg and their ongoing commitment to deepening cooperation with Luxembourg that have led to this award".
Xavier Bettel also attended the traditional reception organised jointly by the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Berlin and the
Lëtzebuerger Film Fong, bringing together professionals and partners from the audiovisual production sector as well as representatives from the world of culture, and met the Luxembourg producers present in Berlin.
Although there are no Luxembourg productions on the official programme for the 2016 Berlinale, Luxembourg has 9 productions on the programme.
nominations and 4 awards in Berlin.
Nevertheless, 4 Luxembourg co-productions are represented at this year's European Film Market, namely Colonia by Florian Gallenberger (Iris Productions), The dark side of the moon by Stephan Rick (Iris Productions), Mammal by Rebecca Daily (Calach Films, Les Films Fauves) and Péjudice by Antoine Cuypers (Samsa Film).
For the César awards ceremony on 26 February, two Luxembourg co-productions have been nominated:
The survey by Vincent Garenq (Samsa Film) in the "Best Adaptation" category and The brand new testament by Jaco van Dormael (Juliette Films) in the "Best Foreign Film" category. This co-production, recently shortlisted at the Golden Globes, has sold over 815,000 tickets in France in nine weeks and has just won 4 Magritte awards in Belgium.
