''The Last Ashes'' () is a 2023 Luxembourgish Western drama film directed by Loïc Tanson in his directorial debut. Starring Sophie Mousel, it follows Hélène, who returns to her native village under a new identity. Looking for revenge and ready to do anything to destroy the Graff family. The film was premiered at the

56th Sitges Film Festival The 56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia took place from 5 October to 15, 2023, in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. The supernatural horror film '' Sister Death'', directed by Paco Plaza, opened the festival. Argentine horror f ...

on 9 October 2023 and subsequently released in Luxembourg on 25 October. It was selected as the Luxembourgish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

On 7 December it appeared in the eligible list for consideration for the 2024 Oscars, but, it didn't make it to the shortlist.

Synopsis

This is a contemporary western drama with female leads, taking place in Luxembourg in 1854. Hélène comes back to her home village taking new identity to take revenge from the Graff family. Graff family is ruling over her community with an iron fist. She is furious to see how her relatives and neighbors are oppressed by the cruel and powerful lords. She plans a revenge against the elitist and authoritarian family to destroy them, alone.

Cast

* Sophie Mousel as Hélène - Oona * Timo Wagner as Jon * Jules Werner as Graff * Luc Schiltz as Pier * Philippe Thelen as Luc * Konstantin Rommelfangen as Hélène's father *Larisa Faber as Hélène's mother *Henner Momann as Dutch soldier * Tommy Schlesser as Henri * Marie Jung as Marie * Jean-Paul Maes as Pastor Meyers * Denis Jousselin as Kremer * Jeanne Werner as Sindonie * Max Gindorff as Tom * Colette Kieffer as Woman from the village * Marc Baum as Man from the village * Jules Waringo as Man from the village * Pierre Bodry as Man from the village * Frank Grotz as Appersmann

Production

In 2019, Film Fund Luxembourg contributed 30,000 for project development. In 2020, Film Fund Luxembourg contributed 30,000 taking the contribution to 2.8 million of the total budget, which was estimated at 3,947,432. Filming began on 25 April 2022 and completed on 25 June mainly near the Eyneburg castle in Hergenrath in the municipality of

Kelmis Kelmis (; , ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Liège (province), Liège, named for the historical deposits of Calamine (mineral), calamine (zinc ore) nearby. , the population was 10,881; the ...

, Belgium. On 7 June 2022, behind the scenes of filming were revealed.

Release

''The Last Ashes'' was selected in Noves Visions section of the

and screened on 9 October 2023 in

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain. The film was screened at the FrightFest London Festival on 25 August 2024.

Reception

Duncan Roberts writing in '' Luxembourg Times'' praised Loïc Tanson and Frédéric Zeimet for researching the "old Luxembourgish to create dialogue with accents and vocabulary that may have been used in the 1880s". Roberts also praised production designer Christina Schaffer "for creating a suitably grim ambience"; and costume designer Magdalena Labuz for meticulous costumes; and duo of When Airy Met Fairy ( Thorunn Egilsdottir and Mike Koster) for the "haunting music". Roberts was critical of editing of Tanson. Concluding he wrote, "''The Last Ashes'' is a well-executed epic of the kind all too rarely made in Luxembourg." He added, "It is a gripping and gritty story - there are scenes of violence that will cause more sensitive viewers to reel in horror - that delves into a period of Luxembourg history also seldom explored." The film was also selected as the Luxembourg entry for nominations to the 38th edition of the

Goya Award for Best European Film The Goya Award for Best European Film ( Spanish: ''Premio Goya a la mejor película europea'') is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. The award was first presented at the seventh edition of the Goya Awards with the Fre ...

(10 February 2024,

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, Spain), competing with nine other selections from 9 European countries.

References

External links

*
''The Last Ashes''
at Film Fund Luxembourg {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Ashes, The 2023 films 2023 Western (genre) films 2023 drama films Luxembourgian drama films Luxembourgish-language films Films shot in Belgium Films set in 1854 Films about revenge Films set in Luxembourg 2023 directorial debut films