The 16th Luxembourg City Film Festival (5-15 March) has revealed the key highlights of its upcoming edition, marked by a surprising and unplanned recurrence: several works, though diverse in form and territory, evoke the colour pink and the rose as spaces of friction, where the violence of reality meets human fragility. Under the banner “Wild, Wild Rose”, this year’s programme invites audiences to forget or confront the woes of the world.

Kicking off on 5 March, the festival opens with Rose [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Markus Schleinzer, following its selection in the Berlinale competition. The film follows a woman’s quest for self-acceptance through a rigorously controlled formal approach with Sandra Hüller delivering a performance already widely praised. The festival’s awards ceremony on 14 March will feature The Blood Countess [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ulrike Ottinger
scheda film] by Ulrike Ottinger, a jubilant, gothic vampire mystery starring Isabelle Huppert. Closing the festival is Rosebush Pruning [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Karim Aïnouz, also unveiled in Berlin.

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Over 1,000 films were reviewed in order to arrive at the final selection for 2026, with the Official Competition once again serving as its showcase. Nine films are vying for the festival’s Grand Prix, offering a prize of €10,000, to be decided upon by the international jury led by Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who is joined by Argentine director Lisandro Alonso, British musician and actor Peter Doherty, Finnish actress Alma Pöysti, French actress Emmanuelle Béart, and Singaporean filmmaker and cinematographer Rae Lyn Lee.

The films are: Rose (Austria/Germany) by Markus Schleinzer; Nina Roza [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Geneviève Dulude-de Celles
scheda film] (Canada/Bulgaria/Italy/Belgium) by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, also screened at the Berlinale, and winner of the Best Screenplay award; How to Divorce During the War [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andrius Blaževičius
scheda film] by Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania/Luxembourg/Ireland/Czech Republic), awarded for Best Directing in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic section; Blue Heron [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Sophy Romvari (Canada/Hungary), Best First Feature in Locarno last year; My Father’s Shadow [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Akinola Davies Jr.
scheda film] by Akinola Davies Jr. (UK/Ireland/Nigeria), Caméra d’Or Special Mention in Cannes last year; last year’s Venice Orizzonti entries Human Resource by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Thailand) and Rose of Nevada [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mark Jenkin
scheda film] by Mark Jenkin (UK); Mad Bills to Pay by Joel Alfonso Vargas (USA), screened in last year’s Berlinale Perspectives, and Feels Like Home [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gábor Holtai
scheda film] by Gábor Holtai (Hungary).

Merging animated, hybrid and traditional forms, six documentaries will be vying for the Documentary Prize, worth €5,000: Mailin by María Silvia Esteve (Argentina/France/Romania), Memory [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vladlena Sandu
scheda film] by Vladlena Sandu (France/Netherlands), With Hasan in Gaza [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kamal Aljafari
intervista: Kamal Aljafari
scheda film] by Kamal Aljafari (Palestine/Germany/France/Qatar), My Father and Qaddafi by Jihan K (USA/Libya), Seeds by Brittany Shyne (USA) and Endless Cookie by Peter Scriver and Seth Scriver (Canada). The documentary jury features Aurélie Godet (Cork International Film Festival), Camille Chanod (LaCinetek), Dögg Mósesdóttir (Stockfish Film Festival), Francesca Cristallo (Matera Film Festival) and Lisa Hoen (Tromsø International Film Festival).

In addition to its competitions, the Made In/With Luxembourg selection showcases a diverse array of works (co-)produced in Luxembourg. Alongside The Blood Countess and How to Divorce During the War, the line-up includes All My Sisters [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Massoud Bakhshi
scheda film] by Massoud Bakhshi (Austria/France/Germany/Iran), produced by Amour Fou; Apple & Pears by Lukas Grevis (Luxembourg); Exile [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mehdi Hmili
scheda film] by Mehdi Hmili (Tunisia/Luxembourg/France/Qatar/Saudi Arabia), produced in collaboration with Tarantula; Getting There by Nora Wagner (Luxembourg/Belgium), supported by Filmreakter and Kulturfabrik; Kurak by Erke Dzhumakmatova and Emil Atageldiev (Kyrgyzstan/Switzerland/Serbia/France/Luxembourg/Netherlands), produced by Deal Productions; Morte Cucina by Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Thailand/Singapore/Luxembourg/USA/Taiwan), also co-produced by Deal Productions; We’ll Find Happiness by Léa Pool (Canada/Luxembourg), a co-production by Iris Productions; Projecto Global [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ivo M. Ferreira
scheda film] by Ivo M. Ferreira (Portugal/Luxembourg), co-produced by Tarantula; Utopolis by Vladimir Subotic (Greece/Luxembourg), a Deal Productions co-production; The Wolf, the Fox & the Leopard [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by David Verbeek (Netherlands/Luxembourg/Ireland/Croatia/Taiwan), co-produced by Deal Productions; and Women as Lovers [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Koxi (Germany/Luxembourg), produced by Amour Fou. On the short-film side, nine works will screen once during the day and once in the evening in collaboration with the Filmakademie Luxembourg.

For the second year, LuxFilmFest will dedicate an evening to series, presenting an exclusive screening of season 3 of Quickies, the initiative launched by Filmreakter in 2020 during the pandemic, in collaboration with RTL.