Still from Czech animated film “Pat and Mat Move” Cinéma Public Films

Still from Czech animated film “Pat and Mat Move” Cinéma Public Films

As always, the Luxembourg City Film Festival’s youth and kids programme is packed with entertaining and educational films for ages 3 and upwards, as well as a series of workshops, conferences and meetings with industry professionals. The festival says its aim has long been to “help children and students gain a better understanding of the image-driven world and of new narrative forms by equipping them with tools to decipher and decode them.”

The festival wants to encourage children as young as 3 years old to get used to going to the cinema and has incorporated a special “My First Movies” section aimed at that age group. These films are often dialogue free, enabling children to enjoy them no matter what their language skills. The programme includes a special ciné-concert screening of Czech animated film “Pat and Mat Move” (photo) with pianist Cyrille Aufaure.

Luxembourg co-productions

Three Luxembourg co-productions for older kids worth watching out for at the festival include comedy “Tel Aviv On Fire”, about a West Bank checkpoint that inspires a soap opera script. Then there is award-winning animated feature “Funan”, which takes a personal look at the horrors of the Khmer Rouge revolution. And German superhero drama “Invisible Sue” is about a young girl blessed with the power of invisibility who has to rescue her mother from a kidnapping conspiracy. Luxembourg City Film Festival, 7 to 17 March Luxembourg City venues

Picnic with pros

The festival’s annual “Picnic with pros” session at the Casino Luxembourg is an interactive meeting at which youngsters can learn about career opportunities in TV and film. It is organised with BTS Cinéma et Audiovisuel and in collaboration with the Centre National de l'Audiovisuel and the Film Fund Luxembourg. Entry is free as long as space is available

Analysis workshop

A staple of the Luxembourg City Film Festival is an entertaining and enlightening workshop with The Hollywood Reporter film critic Boyd van Hoeij, who unpicks a familiar film scene by scene. He also holds a series of sessions on film criticism. Registration is compulsory. Email [email protected]

Join the jury

Kids aged over 16 can join the festival’s youth jury, which chooses its favourite film from a selection that it watches during the festival. The jury also gets to meet guest directors and members of the other juries. It also awards the Prix du Jury Jeune – by Kinepolis, at the festival’s prize-giving ceremony. For more information, email [email protected]