10 Luxembourgish movies to watch (2024)

Synopsis:

Five days after its launch on the global Netflix network, the Capitani series has already made it into the top 10 in 46 countries. The thriller tells the story of Inspector Capitani who investigates the murder of a young girl found dead at the foot of a cliff near the Luxembourg village of Manscheid. Little by little the secrets of the small village are revealed until a terrible truth emerges.

Year of release:2019

Actors:Luc Schiltz, Sophie Mousel

Director:Christophe Wagner

Length:12 seasons / 26 min.

Synopsis:

Now regarded as THE cult Luxembourgish film, Troublemaker tells the story of Jacques,a loudmouthed prison inmate who likes to call himself Johnny Chicago. In prison, he comes up against a fellow inmate named Chuck. They get into a fight, then become friends. Together they dream of going to America. No one, not even Jenny, Johnny's girlfriend, manages to stop the two buddies.Andy Bausch directed two sequels to the film (Back in Trouble and Trouble No More).

Year of release: 1988

Actors:Thierry Van Werveke, Ender Frings, Nicole Max

Director: Andy Bausch

Length: 98 mins

Little known beginnings

In the early 20th century and until it gained professional status, the film industry in Luxembourg operated on a relatively small scale. In 1927, a first specialist film magazine entitledLe film luxembourgeoiswas launched by journalist and film critic Evy Friedrich. Friedrich also shot a number of short documentary films, the most notable of which wasLes Danseurs d'Echternach,presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1947. Another pioneer of the Luxembourg film industry wasRené Leclère(Un clown dans la rue, 1930). From 1937 to 1953, he made nine documentary films. Pierre Bertogne also made a name for himself in the Luxembourg cinema landscape.From 1930 to 1940,as an amateur, he produced several films that reflected the major historical events of the time, includingLëtzebuerg ass fräi.

Filmmaker Philippe Schneider then took up the baton for the next three decades, with around thirty films to his name by 1979 (documentaries and promotional, industrial and tourism films).

Synopsis:

Luxembourg, October 1830. The fallout from the Belgian Revolution is felt throughout the region. Tired of Dutch domination, most people want to become Belgian. Only a handful call for an independent Luxembourg.One of them is a municipal clerk whostubbornly refuses to accept Belgian nationality.Seen as a traitor, he is forced to go into exile.

Year of release:1989

Actors:André Jung, Denise Gregoire, Raoul Biltgen, Pol Greisch, Marc Olinger, Marie-Christine Faber, Henri Losch, Marie-Paule Von Roesgen

Directors:Menn Bodson, Gast Rollinger, Marc Olinger

Length:114 mins

Synopsis:

The date is 31 December 1962. Rocco has just been released from prison. He heads for Dudelange to see his girlfriend Véro and at the same time get his hands on some cash. Because Rocco has a dream: he wants to travel to America. But New Year's Eve takes a dramatic turn. Rocco's carefully laid plans are upset by a fatal stabbing, and his American dream goes up in smoke. Early in the morning, he leaves Dudelange.

Year of release:1989

Actors:Thierry Van Werveke, Désirée Nosbusch, Konrad Scheel, Jochen Senf, Birol Uenel, Serge Wolf, Sabine Berg, Géraldine Karier

Director:Andy Bausch

Length:86 mins

Synopsis:

A high society wedding. Catherine is from a rich family, Christian from a poor family. They have just got married. The newlyweds have one thing in common: drugs, and more specifically heroin. After the wedding celebrations, Catherine leaves their apartment in search of drugs. But she does not come back.

Year of release:1991

Actors:Myriam Muller, Thierry Van Werveke, Ender Frings, Paul Scheuer, Marja-Leena Junker

Director:Pol Cruchten

Length:108 mins

The 1980s: national and international recognition

In the 1980s, the Luxembourg film industry was beginning to gather pace when the young director Andy Bausch arrived as a fresh face on the cinema scene.Over time he soon assembled a core group of young actors likeThierry Van Wervekeand Myriam Muller. In 1987, he directed the filmTroublemaker, a police comedy that was an instant hit with younger audiences.

1989 was a pivotal year for the Luxembourg film industry. Driven by the country's producers, and following considerable government investment, Luxembourg's production structures became more professional.

Over the following decade, Luxembourg cinema underwent rapid development. In 1992,Hochzäitsnuecht(Wedding Night)byPol Cruchtenwas the first feature-length film to be screened at the Cannes Festival,and eight months later the same film won the Max Ophüls Prize in Saarbrücken.

Synopsis:

In southern Luxembourg, the steel industry is increasingly on the decline. One by one the workers lose their jobs.Five of them decide to create the "club des chômeurs", the unemployed club, where the main rule is not to go back to work even if the possibility arises.Geronimo, Théid, Frunnes, Sonny Boy, Abbes and Petz all agree to abide by the club's strict rules.

Year of release:2001

Actors:Thierry Van Werveke, Myriam Muller, André Jung, Marco Lorenzini, Luc Feit, Fernand Fox, Christian Kmiotek, Marja-Leena Junker

Director:Andy Bausch

Length:97 mins

Synopsis:

Philippe, known as Flëpp, lives on his own with his strict, depressive mother Sophie in a little town in Luxembourg. His father drowned himself when Flëpp was little, but the young man never fully came to terms with the trauma, largely because of his obsessive, incestuous relationship with his mother. But suddenly a young Bosnian girl, Leena, enters his life, and things start to change.

Year of release:2015

Actors:Myriam Muller, Jules Werner, Max Thommes, Christiane Rausch, Maja Juric

Director:Jacques Molitor

Length:80 mins

Setting up film production in Luxembourg

In the wake of this surprising growth, production companies began focusing their attention on co-productions with foreign partners. This development also benefited the animation sector, which has gained huge momentum in Luxembourg, to such an extent that a two-year higher education diploma (BTS) in animation drawing has been launched in the country. There are currently around 20 production companies in Luxembourg, and audiovisual production is on the rise. Nearly200 feature filmsand 130 short filmshave been produced or co-produced in Luxembourg since the early 1970s.Since then, a constant stream of films from Luxembourg have left their mark on the global industry.

Synopsis:

Fed up with being treated like children, four elderly men (Fons, Lull, Nuckes and Jängi) decide to share a house together rather than going to a retirement home.They find a house that is currently unoccupied and seems to suit their plan. The only problem is coming up with the money. But they have no intention of giving up.

Year of release:2017

Actors:André Jung, Marco Lorenzini, Fernand Fox, Pol Greisch, Josiane Peiffer, Monique Reuter, Valérie Bodson, Myriam Muller

Director:Andy Bausch

Length:107 mins

Synopsis:

The fictional country of Luxusbuerg is preparing for the coronation of the young duke after the death of his father. But a terrorist organisation is planning todestroy the entire country. Tosave "little" Luxembourg, the country calls on Superjhemp, who has been missing for years. Working as a civil servant since retiring from life as a superhero, he needs to figure out how to get back his lost superpowers to help his country.

Year of release:2018

Actors:André Jung, Désirée Nosbusch, Etienne Halsdorf, Jules Werner, Luc Feit, Jules Waringo, Henri Losch, Jean-Paul Maes, Julie Kieffer, Tommy Schlesser

Director:Félix Koch

Length:100 mins

• World War II in Luxembourgish films
• The top 10 of Luxembourg international cinema
• Film Fund Luxembourg