The top 10 of Luxembourg international cinema A journey through Luxembourg's most international cinema
The animated film Mr Hublot is undoubtedly the milestone of Luxembourg's audiovisual production. Indeed, in 2014 it won the Oscar for best animated short film, and the face of this man who wears enormous thick glasses and has four square holes on his forehead through which numbers scroll is now part of the popular imagination.
Nevertheless, for decades, Luxembourg cinema has gone far beyond this animated film and has enjoyed international success. The 2019 edition of the Cannes Film Festival is a fine example of this international influence: three films were part of the official competition 'Un certain regard' and another one of the 'Quinzaine des réalisateurs' and two feature films won prizes: Chambre 212 (On a Magical Night), Prize for Best Performance for Chiara Mastroianni, and O que arde (Fire will come), Jury Prize.
With also the participation of famous film stars, here is a selection of 10 international films that have a Luxembourg participation and we invite you to browse! Actually, 10 + 1, since Mr Hublot is not to be missed!
Mr Hublot
Synopsis:
A withdrawn character with obsessive-compulsive disorders, Mr Hublot is afraid of change and the outside world. His solution: he doesn't leave his apartment! The arrival of a robot dog will turn his life upside down: he has to share his house with this very intrusive companion...
Year: 2014
Directors: Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares
Producers: Zeilt Productions (Luxembourg), Watt Frame (France), Arte (France)
Duration: 11.48 min.
Animated short film
On a Magical Night (Chambre 212)
Synopsis:
After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave her husband. She moves into room 212 in the hotel across the street, with a breathtaking view of her apartment, her husband and the life she shared with him. As she wonders if she has made the right decision, many people in her life give their opinions on the matter.
Year: 2019
Casting: Chiara Mastroianni, Vincent Lacoste, Camille Cottin, Benjamin Biolay, Marie-Christine Adam, Carole Bouquet
Director: Christophe Honoré
Producers: Bidibul Productions (Luxembourg), Les Films Pelléas (France), Scoope Pictures (Belgium)
Duration: 88 min.
Tel Aviv on Fire
Synopsis:
Salam, 30, lives in East Jerusalem. He is Palestinian and an intern on the set of the successful Arab soap opera Tel Aviv on Fire. Every morning, he crosses the same checkpoint on his way to work in Ramallah. One day, Salam is interrogated by Assi, an Israeli officer whose wife is a big fan of the soap opera.
Year: 2018
Casting: Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Nadim Sawalha, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Salim Daw, Laëtitia Eïdo, Wafaa Abo Zarifa, Amer Oklah
Director: Sameh Zoabi
Producers: Samsa Film (Luxembourg), TS Productions (France)
Duration: 95 min.
Zero Impunity
Synopsis:
For centuries, sexual crimes in war zones have had devastating consequences for survivors. Few of them had the support they needed to break the taboo and finally free their word. This film, which echoes their voices, is a necessary cry to raise public awareness but above all an ode to life and humanity.
Year: 2018
Directors: Nicolas Blies, Stéphane Hueber-Blies (Blies Brothers), Denis Lambert
Producers: a_BAHN (Luxembourg), Mélusine Productions (Luxembourg), Camera Talk (France), Webspider (France).
Duration: 90 min.
Animated film
The Girl with a Pearl Earring
Synopsis:
The film tells the story of Griet, a 16-year-old Dutch girl who becomes a cleaning lady in the house of the painter Johannes Vermeer. Her calmness and perspicacity not only help her with her household chores, but also attract the painter's attention.
Year: 2002
Casting: Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Essie Davis, Judy Parfitt, Tom Wilkinson, Joanna Scanlan
Director: Peter Webber
Producers: DeLux Productions (Luxembourg), Archer Street (United Kingdom)
Duration: 100 min.
The Swallows of Kabul (Les hirondelles de Kaboul)
Synopsis:
Summer 2001, Kabul in ruins is occupied by the Taliban. Atiq and Mussarat have been married for many years and hardly ever speak to each other. Mohsen and Zunaira are young and deeply in love. One foolish act by Mohsen will change the fate of his couple. Mussarat will help the man she loves regain his ability to love.
Year: 2017
Directors: Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec
Producers: Mélusine Productions (Luxembourg), Les Armateurs (France), Close Up Films (Switzerland)
Duration: 80 min.
Animated film
Colonia
Synopsis:
Inspired by real events, the film tells the story of Lena and Daniel, a young couple who became entangled in the Chilean military coup of 1973. Daniel is kidnapped by Pinochet's secret police and Lena follows him to a sealed-off area in the south of the country called Colonia Dignidad.
Year: 2016
Casting: Emma Watson, Daniel Bruhl, Michael Nyqvist, Vicky Krieps, Martin Wuttke, Richenda Carey, Jeanne Werner, Steve Karier, August Zirner
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Producers: Iris Productions (Luxembourg), Majestic Filmproduktion (Germany), Rezo Productions (France), Rat Pack Filmproduktion (Germany).
Duration: 110 min.
Extraordinary Tales
Synopsis:
Five stories by Edgar Allan Poe, each designed in a graphic style adapted to different segments and inspired by visual artists and illustrators, whose style best expresses the depth and psychological complexity of Poe's dark world.
Year: 2015
Director: Raul Garcia
Producers: Mélusine Productions (Luxembourg), Melon Digital (Spain), R&R Communications (USA), The Big Farm (Belgium)
Duration: 73 min.
Animated film
Fire Will Come (O que arde)
Synopsis:
When Amador gets out of prison for setting a fire, no one is waiting for him. He returns to his hometown, a small village hidden in the mountains of rural Galicia, to live with his eldest mother, Benedicta, and three cows. Life goes on quietly until the night when a fire devastates the area.
Year: 2019
Casting: Amador Aria Mon, Benedicta Sanchez, Inazio Brao, Nuria Sotelo, Ruben Gomez Coelho, Ivan Yanez, Luis Manuel Guerrero Sanchez
Director: Olivier Laxe
Producers: Tarantula Luxembourg (Luxembourg), 4 A 4 Productions (France), Miramemira (Spain), Kowalski Films (Spain)
Duration: 75 min.
Hey Good Looking! (Comme t'y es belle)
Synopsis
Isa, Alice, Léa and Nina share their lives between love stories, a beauty salon under fiscal inspection, children to raise, an undocumented Moroccan nanny about to perform a civil partnership, repeated diets, family and religious holidays to honor. But before being beautiful, their biggest challenge is to be themselves.
Year: 2006
Casting: Michèle Laroque, Aure Atika, Valérie Benguigui, Géraldine Nakache, Marthe Villalonga, Francis Huster
Director: Lisa Azuelos
Producers: Samsa Film (Luxembourg), Liaison cinématographique (France), Wild Bunch (Germany)
Duration: 85 min.
The Orphanage (Parwareshgah)
Synopsis:
In the late 1980s, 15-year-old Qodrat lives on the streets of Kabul and sells cinema tickets on the black market. He's a big Bollywood fan and he gets caught dreaming in some of his preferred movie scenes. One day the police take him to the Soviet orphanage.
Year: 2019
Casting: Qodratollah Qadiri, Sediqa Rasuli, Masihullah Feraji, Hasibullah Rasooli, Ahmad Fayaz Omani
Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat
Producers: Samsa Film (Luxembourg), Adomeit Films (Danmark), Adomeit Berlin (Germany), Wolf Pictures (Afghanistan), La Fabrica Nocturna Productions (France)
Duration: 100 min.
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