Guy Daleiden on the leaps in Luxembourg film industry and what the UAE could learn

For an idea of what a future home-grown UAE film industry could look like, consider Luxembourg.

The small European country has a population of only 550,000, of which the majority are expats — just like the UAE.

But Luxembourg has been packing some punches in the international moviemaking arena. At last year’s Oscars, the country scooped its first Academy Award (for Best Animated Short Film) for Mr Hublot, which screened over the weekend in the UAE as part of the European Film Screenings.

Additionally, last year also saw the Luxembourg-based Mélusine Productions’ animated film Ernest & Celestine, about a friendship between a mouse and a bear, become the first locally produced feature film to be nominated for an Oscar (for Best Animated Feature Film).

This year has brought the industry more international acclaim, as Mélusine Productions secured another Oscar nomination for the animated featureSong of the Sea, which was the opening film of the European Film Screenings last Wednesday.

So how did this little-known country, which 25 years ago had no film industry to speak of, become such a big player in the field?

Original article by Jessica Hill

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Guy Daleiden on the leaps in Luxembourg film industry and what the UAE could learn