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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Luxembourg

Film Fund Luxembourg unveils the projects selected in its second annual committee

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- New works by Barbara Albert, Margarethe von Trotta and Gérard Corbiau are among the various films supported by the Luxembourg institution

Film Fund Luxembourg unveils the projects selected in its second annual committee
Director Barbara Albert (© Manfred Werner Tsui)

The Film Fund Luxembourg selection committee has allocated selective aid to the tune of €8,847,184 for the writing and/or development and production of films, shared between 16 projects.

Standing out among the various feature films selected during this second annual ‘outcome session’ are a number of works directed by women, starting with Austrian filmmaker Barbara Albert (The Dead and the Living [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
film profile
]
, Mademoiselle Paradis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
film profile
]
), whose latest opus Die Mittagsfrau – a historical romance immersing itself in post-war Berlin and adapted from the bestselling book by Julia Franck - will unite the likes of Germany (Lucky Bird Pictures), Switzerland (C-Films), France (Rezo) and Luxembourg (€1,500,000 allocated by FFL, via Iris Productions). Germany’s Margarethe von Trotta, meanwhile, who was responsible for the 1981 Golden Lion-winning work The German Sisters, not to mention Hannah Arendt [+see also:
trailer
interview: Margarethe von Trotta
film profile
]
in 2012, has also been granted €1,500,000 (roughly 20% of the total budget) for her new biographical drama Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margarethe von Trotta
film profile
]
, which is produced by Germany (Heimatfilm), Switzerland (Tellfilm), Austria (Amour Fou Vienna) and Luxembourg (Amour Fou Luxembourg). The film will follow in the footsteps of poet Ingeborg Bachmann as she travels between Berlin, Zurich, Rome and Egypt in the company of the architect and writer specialising in irony Max Frisch. For her part, Serbian director Mirjana Karanovic (A Good Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, also known for her part in Esma’s Secret - Grbavica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
interview: Jasmila Zbanic
film profile
]
) has been awarded €200,000  (Paul Thiltges Distributions) for Mother Mara, involving Serbia (This&That Productions), Slovenia (December), Bosnia-Herzegovina (Deblokada), Montenegro (VHS doo) and the Grand Duchy.

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Likewise gracing the list of selected titles is the historical drama Saving Mozart, which is directed by Gérard Corbiau (Farinelli), co-produced with Belgium (Saga Film) and Germany (Film-Line), and which unfolds in Salzburg in 1939 with Irish actor Gabriel Byrne occupying the lead role (€1,500,000, Deal Productions). The co-production between France (Les Films du Lézard, Superprod, Wild Bunch) and Luxembourg The Lulus (Bidibul Productions) - a family drama set in the midst of the First World War and directed by Yann Samuell (Love Me If You Dare [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) - earned itself €1,400,000, and Boss [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Les Films Fauves), the new movie by Romanian director Bogdan Mirica (Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bogdan Mirica
film profile
]
), has been awarded funds amounting to €200,000.

On the animation side, two projects are set to receive substantial support from the fund: in the field of fiction, there’s the series Dino Mite, directed by Chérifa Bakhti and Sandra Schiebl, which will plunge viewers into prehistoric times in the company of an inventive little dinosaur and a cave girl (€1,500,000, Trikk17/M.A.R.K.13/ZDF/Fabrique d’Images), and, in terms of animated documentaries, there’s the series Aux sources de la Fantasy, which bears the name of Stephan Roelants (the producer of The Swallows of Kabul [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbe-…
film profile
]
) and will offer up an unprecedented investigation into the origins of modern fantasy (€264,203, Cerigo Films/Mélusine Productions).

Two virtual reality works likewise feature among the selection: the Canadian-Luxembourg co-production The Dollhouse by Charlotte Bruneau and Dominic Desjardins will receive €145,591 (Zazie Films/Wild Fang Films), while Juanita Onzaga’s co-production between Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg Floating With Spirits has been awarded €180,000 (Cassette for Timescapes/Studio Biarritz/Tarantula Luxembourg).

Interestingly, two short films have also been granted support, alongside four projects which walked away with selective aid for writing and/or development: the live action feature film Lotréngen by Rui Eduardo Abreu (€50,000, Les Films Fauves), the animated feature Spiked by Sean McCormack (Kapers Animation/Fabrique d’Images, €20,000), and two virtual reality works: Oto’s Planet by Gwenael François (Small Creative/Skill Lab, €60,000) and Le Putsch de Gulliver by Michaël Bolufer (La générale de production/Zeit Productions, €45,000).

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(Translated from French)

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