Luxembourg’s cinematic rise: A small nation with big ambitions
A new era for Luxembourg’s film industry
The Venice Film Festival this year was a significant milestone for Luxembourg, showcasing six of its projects and highlighting the country’s growing influence in the world of cinema. Despite its modest size, Luxembourg has made remarkable strides in the film industry, boasting a vibrant animation sector and producing 25-30 titles annually. This achievement is even more impressive considering the industry’s relative youth and rapid development.
Building from the ground up
“Thirty-five years ago, Luxembourg had no professional infrastructure and no real audiovisual production,” says the chief of the Luxembourg Film Fund. The journey from having virtually no industry to becoming a respected player on the global stage involved building everything from scratch. Today, Luxembourg’s production companies and technicians are highly regarded worldwide.
Stars and accolades
Local talent like Vicky Krieps has put Luxembourg on the map, while directors Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares brought home an Oscar with their project “Mr. Hublot.” These successes have paved the way for the development of both live-action and animation sectors. Currently, animation accounts for 40% of local activity, with live-action projects making up the rest. Non-fiction productions are also gaining traction.
A historic grand-slam
Premiering in competition at Venice, Wang Bing’s “Youth (Homecoming)” marks a significant achievement for Luxembourg. The series’ previous volumes, “Youth (Spring)” and “Youth (Hard Times),” were featured in competitions at Cannes and Locarno, respectively. This 10.5-hour deep dive into Middle Kingdom sweatshops has connected local producers to a more global circuit.
“Co-productions with Belgium and France are relatively common,” says the Luxembourg Film Fund chief. However, the producer of “Youth (Homecoming)” has ventured beyond these usual partnerships, exploring new territories and diversifying the industry’s reach.
Embracing digital innovations
Luxembourg’s royal family and culture minister will join a delegation of nearly 30 local producers at the Venice Production Bridge, focusing on Luxembourg and Francophone Belgium. Digital innovations will be a major point of pride, with Luxembourgish productions like “Ceci Est Mon Cœur” and “Oto’s Planet” featured in the Venice Immersive program.
Another Venice Immersive selected title, “Ito Meikyu,” co-produced by Gilles Chanial of Les Films Fauves, shares a similar team with “Youth (Homecoming),” reflecting the industry’s transmedia ambitions.
The future of audiovisual production
“We consider virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive works to be key elements of audiovisual production, on par with cinema, television, documentary, and animation,” explains the Luxembourg Film Fund chief. The industry must evolve alongside technological developments, and neglecting these advancements would be a mistake. Therefore, everyone in the industry is encouraged to take an active interest in technological development and digitalization.
“We can’t remain stuck in the past,” he continues. “We have to change and adapt to be ready for future evolutions. Every company in Luxembourg has been encouraged to get involved in virtual reality or immersive works. As our Prime Minister used to say, when the digitalization train sets off, we don’t want to be stuck on the platform; we need to be the locomotive.”
Sustaining growth and investment
With an output of 30 projects per year and a single, all-encompassing support fund endowed with an annual budget of $35 million, the future growth of Luxembourg’s film industry is tied to further investment. “The trend is very clear,” says the Luxembourg Film Fund chief. “More and more projects are being made, driving more and more interest in producing and co-producing with Luxembourg. We can only benefit from additional financial resources to continue diversifying and evolving, as the demand is much greater than ever before.”
Explore more
For those interested in diving deeper into Luxembourg’s cinematic offerings, here are some trailers and information pages for the mentioned projects:
Luxembourg’s journey in the film industry is a testament to what can be achieved with vision, investment, and a willingness to embrace new technologies. As the nation continues to grow and diversify its cinematic output, it stands as a beacon of innovation and creativity in the global film landscape.