email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

FESTIVALS Luxembourg

The Luxembourg City Film Festival honours Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope

by 

- The festival came to a close with the international premiere of Terrence Malick’s Song to Song

The Luxembourg City Film Festival honours Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope
The Other Side of Hope by Aki Kaurismäki

The seventh edition of the Luxembourg City Film Festival ended with a major “coup” on Sunday night, when Terrence Malick’s brand-new Song to Song had its first international showing at Luxembourg’s Utopolis complex, just days after its world-premiere gala showing at Austin’s SXSW festival.

Prizes for the festival were handed out on Friday night, prior to a showing of France’s 2017 Berlin opener, Django [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Etienne Comar
film profile
]
, directed by Etienne Comar. The Grand Prix went to Berlin’s winner of Best Director, Aki Kaurismäki, whose The Other Side of Hope [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile
]
was lauded by press and public alike. The Best Documentary Award was given to another Berlin-screened film, Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, while the Luxembourg Critics' Association (ALPC) awarded the Bulgarian tragi-comedy Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile
]
, directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

With its seventh edition breaking audience records (a total of 29,300 visitors, a whopping 34% increase over last year’s attendance levels), the LuxFilmFest has become a firm fixture in Luxembourg’s year-round cultural offering. Organisational hiccups were kept to an absolute minimum, the screenings at the three different venues went smoothly, and both a Virtual Reality Pavilion and a Wes Anderson exhibition proved to be magnets for the public.

The selection of films, whether in or out of competition, encompassing documentaries, children’s movies, and Luxembourg productions and/or co-productions, was lauded as the best ever, although during the final days of the festival, a minor controversy erupted in the media about the glaring absence of Luxembourg-produced films in the gathering’s competition, fuelled by several local producers who felt short-changed this year, after last year’s edition of the LuxFilmFest had seen the selection (in competition) of Pol Cruchten’s Voices from Chernobyl [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Terence Davies’ Sunset Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terence Davies
film profile
]
(a co-production) and the acclaimed documentary Eldorado [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, directed by Rui Eduardo Abreu, Thierry Besseling and Loïc Tanson. Nevertheless, a total of eight films made in Luxembourg had their local premieres at the festival: Ethel & Ernest [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(animation), Richard the Stork [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(animation), Storm [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, A Real Vermeer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Barrage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Schroeder
film profile
]
, Bye Bye Germany [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, MappaMundi [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Night of a 1000 Hours [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Widrich
film profile
]
.

At the closing of the event, government and local sponsors reaffirmed their support for the LuxFilmFest, the eighth edition of which will be held from 22 February-4 March 2018.

Here is the complete awards list:

Grand Prix
The Other Side of Hope [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile
]
- Aki Kaurismäki (Finland/Germany)

Documentary Award
I Am Not Your Negro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Raoul Peck (France/United States/Belgium/Switzerland)

Audience Award
Dark Night - Tim Sutton (USA)

ALPC Critics' Award
Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile
]
- Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)

Special Mention
I Am Not Madame Bovary - Feng Xiaogang (China)

Youth Jury Award
Sámi Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Kernell
interview: Lars Lindstrom
film profile
]
- Amanda Kernell

Kids Jury Award
Auf Augenhöhe [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Evi Goldbrunner, Joachim Dollhopf (Germany)

Kids' Festival Favourite
Richard the Stork [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Tobias Genkel, Reza Memari (Germany/Belgium/Luxembourg/Norway)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy