07/10/2005

Friday night in Luxembourg-city will be the opening night of the second Lëtzebuerger Filmwoch or Luxemburgish Film Week, an initiative that highlights local (co-)productions by re-proposing them in two Luxemburgish cinemas and by awarding De Lëtzebuerger Filmpräis or Luxemburgish Film Prize in several categories in an awards ceremony that is the closing event of the Film Week.

Also known by its French moniker "La semaine du film luxembourgeois", the Film Week is an initiative of the Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle, which created the label ‘Films made in Luxembourg’ and the Film Week to promote locally produced films. The opening film will be Robinson Savary’s Bye bye Blackbird [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which is one of the eleven films vying for the ‘best film’ prize. To qualify for this category, a film’s director or producer needs to be Luxemburgish or live in Luxemburg. Other nominees include La revanche, La femme de Gilles [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Os imortais, George and the dragon, Le roman de Renart (Luxemburg’s choice for the foreign language Oscar of this year) and the documentary Heim ins Reich, which was the most visited local film of last year, with over 25.000 tickets sold.

The jury of this second edition consists of Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa, Sylvie Flammang (film critic), Faruk Günaltay (arthouse owner in Strasbourg), Josée Hansen (film critic), Myriam Müller (actress), Lynne Polak (producer) and Philipe Reynaert (Belgian film critic and director of Wallimages). Besides the best Luxemburgish film prize, they will also award prizes for the best short film, the best Luxemburgish co-production and the best artistic contribution by a resident of Luxemburg. The best European film will be awarded by the Luxemburgish film critics, whilst the visitors of the Film Week can vote for the Audience Prize.