Festival organiser Geoff Thompson last Friday unveiled the programme for this year’s British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg. Thompson acknowledged the difficulty faced by film festivals as well as film makers during the pandemic, which has severely limited the number of films being completed. Nevertheless, in addition to magnificent support from the Irish Film Institute (IFI) as in previous years, Ffilm Cymru has risen to the challenge and have helped us by identifying and putting us in contact with no less than four new Welsh films with whom we have agreed terms to be able to screen their films,” he said at a conference held at the Irish Embassy in Luxembourg, which also provides the festival with a financial contribution through its Emigrant Support Programme.

This year’s festival includes a handful of films that are being screened via streaming only, but the bulk of the festival is being held at Ciné Utopia in Limpertsberg and the Cinémathèque in the city centre. The festival will operate CovidCheck in both venues.

The festival opens with the screening of Herself, an Irish drama set in the background of the housing crisis, and will close with British-American co-production The Current War, a drama set in the world of innovation and electricity. All but one film will be receiving their Luxembourg premiers during the festival, with the Luxembourg co-production Ooops 2 - The Adventure Continues (a.k.a. Two by Two Overboard) having its first screening here in English. Due to covid restrictions elsewhere, the Irish drama A Bend in The River will have its first (worldwide) in-cinema screening.

“While we have a good mix of genres this year, with one animation, one horror and one thriller, the rest are a mix of dramas and documentaries,” Thompson explained. “The latter are usually received exceptionally well by our audiences, we have no less than eight documentaries this year, with all of them available online (plus the thriller). We are also delighted to include a short film showcase from the IFI and Women in Film and Television Ireland (WFTI) in our online offering which is being provided by the Irish Film Institute”

This year the Awards will feature both an Audience Award as well as an Audience Prize, with two entries winning a magnum of crémant from Bernard-Massard and a hamper from Home from Home, and also a Critics’ Award, with the involvement of members of the Association Luxembourgeoise de la Presse Cinématographique (ALPC).

For the full programme, visit the .