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The Other Side Of Hope is the latest feature by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki 

19:00

The Good Postman

Tonislav Hristov’s fascinating documentary about the postman of the title, who decides to run for mayor in his dying Bulgarian village on the Turkish border. Ivan wants to welcome refugees to help revitalise the community, but the nonchalant incumbent mayor and another candidate running on a xenophobic platform have other ideas. Hristov shows the village as a microcosm of the response by oppose factions within European democracies to the refugee crisis. The film is brilliantly edited and beautifully photographed, and emotionally engaging--and even includes one scene of stunning surrealism that will have audiences agog with astonishment.

In Bulgarian (English subtitles)

Venue: Cinémathèque, Luxembourg Centre

 

Sámi Blood

Amanda Kernell’s heart-rendering drama tackles issues of race in Sweden in the 1930s. It stars Lene Cecilia Sparrok as Elle, a 14-year old Sámi girl who is forcibly taken to a state boarding school where she and her sister are to be integrated and taught Swedish customs and culture. Unlike her sister, Elle develops an intense desire to be accepted by her Swedish teachers and classmates, but inevitably her overstretched ambition and her sexual awakening lead to a dramatic situation.

In Sámi and Finnish (English subtitles)

Venue: Utopia, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg

 

20:30

Trouble(re)maker

Charles Nilles’s Sh’napan hip-hop downbeat project performs a live score to Andy Bausch’s local cult film--a low budget classic “Troublemaker”. The 1988 film inspired many of today’s generation of Luxembourg film makers to pick up a camera, write a script or become a producer. The film stars the great, late Thierry van Werveke as Jacques Goudebour, who prefers the more romantic gangster moniker Johnny Chicago. Together with his best mate, played by Ender Frings, the pair set off on a disastrous adventure.

In Luxembourgish and German

Venue: Rotondes, Luxembourg-Bonnevoie

 

21:00

Nelly

Second screening for Anné Émond’s “creatively imagined” biopic about the Quebec writer Nelly Arcan. Arcan’s semi-autobiographical novel “Putain”, based on her experiences as a sex worker, caused a sensation when published in 2001. She followed it with three other acclaimed novels, but then committed suicide in 2009.

Actress Mylène MacKay, who has received rave reviews for her refined and elegant portrayal of Nelly, will be at the screening.

In  Quebecois (English subtitles)

Venue: Cinémathèque, Luxembourg Centre

Urban pop up party

Urban bar is once again running the festival’s HQ at the tent on the place de la Constitution. The venue hosts a party featuring a show by electronic duo Synthesis (Deborah Lehnen and Michael Galetto) who are joined for this performance by Michel Meis. Later DJ Kuston Beater will spin some fab tunes.

Venue: Quartier Général, Place de la Constitution, Luxembourg-Centre

 

 

21:30

The Other Side of Hope

The festival’s artistic committee which selects the film programme was delighted to be able to include the latest feature by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. He brings his usual style, wit and flair to a story about the delicate topic of immigration and the acceptance of refugees in Europe. A restaurateur and a Syrian refugee start in conflict but then form a friendship as the former tries to help the latter makes sense of his new home.

In Finnish (English subtitles)

Venue: Utopia, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg

 

Tower

A creatively made docu-drama by Keith Maitland that details through eye-witness accounts the mass shooting at the University of Texas at Austin in August 1966. One of the first events of its kind in the United States, a sniper killed 16 people and injured two dozen and held the campus hostage for some 96 minutes. Maitland uses archive footage which he has animated and actors to give voice to the witnesses, to create a film packed with tension and emotional punch.

in English

Venue: Utopia, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg