05/11/2009

The biennial national film awards of Luxembourg, the Filmpräis, will be handed out in an awards ceremony in Luxembourg City on December 4. It will be preceded by Journées du Film Luxembourgeois (“Luxembourg Film Days”), which showcases the latest Luxembourg films and co-productions that will vie for the awards.

Things kick off on November 17 with the premiere of the local feature House of Boys, the directorial debut of Jean-Claude Schlim. The Delux production, co-produced by German outfit Elsani Film, tells the story of a young gay boy who travels to Amsterdam in the 1980s and is confronted with a new disease when he starts working in a strip club. The film will go into regular release November 20.

The other big local production, Dust by rookie director Max Jacoby, will have its Luxembourg premiere on November 25. The Red Lion production focuses on a post-apocalyptic love triangle and had its world premiere at the Pusan Film Festival (see news).

The Film Days will also premiere two much-anticipated Luxembourg co-productions: French children’s melodrama Nous Trois by Renaud Betrand, co-produced by Paul Thiltges Productions (see news), and Belgian teenage sports drama The Boat Race [+see also:
trailer
interview: Bernard Bellefroid, directo…
film profile] by Bernard Bellefroid, made with backing from Samsa Film. The latter had its world premiere at the recent Rome Film Festival (see news).

The Filmpräis will be awarded to Luxembourg films or co-production that were released in 2008 or 2009. This year’s categories include Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Animated Film and Best Co-production. There are also awards for Best Artistic and Best Technical Contribution, and an Audience Award.

This year’s jury consists of actress Désirée Nosbusch; European Commission member Viviane Reding; cinema owner Nico Simon; cinematographer Klaus Peter Weber; film journalist (and Cineuropa correspondent) Boyd van Hoeij; director Dan Wiroth and university professor Frank Wilhelm.