Supported by the Ministry of Culture and the City of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg City Film Festival is the country’s official film festival. Beyond the 208 screenings in the three partner cinema complexes, the festival offers special evening events, free workshops, exhibitions, and concerts in many of the capital’s cultural institutions.

The 2020 festival took place in early March. Here are the stories of three student volunteers.

Natalie Davis

Virtual Reality Pavillion

MUDEC student Natalie Davis volunteered at the Luxembourg City Film Festival over a weekend.

"I decided to volunteer for the film festival because not only do I absolutely love movies, I also wanted to meet new people with mutual interests and get more involved within this community. I love taking film classes at Miami, and they have sparked a huge interest in film and the filmmaking industry! When I saw this opportunity to volunteer I jumped at the bit.

I volunteered at the Virtual Reality Pavillon of the festival, which is especially interesting to me because I’ve never experienced virtual reality before. Not only did I learn more about virtual reality itself, but I was also able to talk to a lot of people from all different backgrounds: both those who are coming to see the exhibitions and those who are working them!

By volunteering in this festival I gained more experience with different film mediums, learned more about the technology behind filmmaking, and of course met lots of new, incredible people I wouldn’t have been able to meet otherwise."

Laura Kelly

Volunteer wearing a costume at the Film Festival

MUDEC student Laura Kelly also volunteered at the Luxembourg City Film Festival over a weekend.

"On Friday night I helped out at a party for the directors and actors as well as permanent staff members of the festival, and I ended up meeting a few directors while I was there. It was a really cool party at a really cool venue called Mesa Verde.

Saturday I was helping out at the VR pavilion, where there’s at least 12 different VR experiences and a couple experiences that involve new technologies. My favorite experience was the Algorithmic Perfumery, where visitors complete an online questionnaire and receive a custom made perfume based on their answers and personality.

I decided to volunteer at the festival because it would be a good chance to be involved in the Luxembourg community, and to get to know some Luxembourgish people."

Anthony Raffin

MUDEC student Anthony Raffin volunteered at the Luxembourg City Film Festival for several days.

"For my role as a volunteer with the Film Fest I got to work the morning shift throughout the week! This was definitely the best time to work because it was when all the school children were brought to watch cartoons for class. It was also so much fun being able to greet them every morning with a “Moien.” I also spent my spare time in the morning wandering around the city as my boss had recommended a lot of great places for breakfast!

Back in high school I was a film nerd; in addition to taking multiple film classes I would always attend Cleveland's yearly International Film Festival. So, when I heard that Luxembourg had a film fest, a nostalgic part of me really wanted to see what it was all about. After looking into it, I realized that a volunteer position would be perfect as I would be able to hang out in Luxembourg City, meet some of the locals, and be able to attend films for free.

Mostly I worked the morning shifts for the Film Festival. This was really cool because the festival did not show any true films during the morning and only showed children's cartoons. So every morning I woke up bright and early, and caught the 6:30 a.m. train in order to welcome kindergardeners. This was my favorite part because I was able to practice my Luxembourgish and French with them, and it always made me smile to see how happy and excited they were about the cartoons.

In addition, with my festival pass I was able to see several films throughout the week of the festival. One evening, I was able to score free tickets for my friends and myself to two films -- the Ukranian film Atlantis and the Australian tearjerker Babyteeth. We all enjoyed the films and had a fun evening in the city!"