Documentary film · 2025 · 52 min
Lëtzebuerger an Argentinien
Lëtzebuerger an Argentinien (international title Seguimos Siendo: Los Luxemburgueses en Argentina, 2025, 52 min) is a documentary directed by Daniel Atz, with co-director and cinematographer Astor Schiantarelli, produced by Connaissance Films. It premiered on 23 November 2025 at Ciné Utopia in Luxembourg as the country’s selection for the 10th European Arthouse Cinema Day, and was broadcast on RTL Lëtzebuerg.
- Avant-première: 23 November 2025, Ciné Utopia (Luxembourg City) — Luxembourg’s selection for the 10th European Arthouse Cinema Day
- Broadcast: RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, February 2026, and on RTL Play
- Spoken languages: Luxembourgish, Spanish, English, French
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, Luxembourgish, French
- Locations: Argentina, Luxembourg
- Trailer: watch on YouTube
The story
Beginning in 1856, hundreds of Luxembourgish families emigrated to Argentina, settling first in Esperanza, Santa Fe, and later in communities such as San Antonio de Iraola and Rosario. Unlike their compatriots in the United States or Brazil, many were made to sign settlement contracts forbidding them from speaking their own language. Within a few generations, an entire culture had been erased: the film’s team met descendants in their nineties who knew nothing of Luxembourg at all.
Then, during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020, isolated descendants began searching genealogy sites and uncovering their Luxembourgish roots. Associations formed. Citizenship applications followed. A language once forbidden by contract began to be reclaimed by choice. Lëtzebuerger an Argentinien follows that rediscovery.
A first in two languages
The film is written primarily in Spanish and Luxembourgish — believed to be the first film made principally in that pair of languages. Its score includes tango-band recordings of Luxembourgish standards, including “De Feierwon,” commissioned for the production: Argentine tango carrying Luxembourgish folk memory.
Production
Production began in 2023 with filming across Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires provinces. The project survived the obstacles of independent documentary work — a failed microphone that cost a key interview, a windshield shattered at highway speed on the pampas — and gained its defining collaborator when Astor Schiantarelli, hired to refilm lost material, discovered during production that he himself was a Luxembourg citizen by descent: an Argentine rediscovering his own roots while filming others doing the same. In 2024, footage from the 30th anniversary of the Luxembourg descendants’ association in Rosario, filmed in collaboration with RTL, aired on Luxembourgish television.
Premiere and recognition
The film premiered on 23 November 2025 at Ciné Utopia in Limpertsberg, Luxembourg, drawing over 150 people across the screening and reception, as Luxembourg’s selection for the 10th European Arthouse Cinema Day. RTL Lëtzebuerg broadcast the film nationally.
Selected press about the film
- Luxembourg Times — “Documentary tells of little known hardships of Luxembourgers in 1880s Argentina”
- Télécran / Luxemburger Wort — “Daniel Atz discovers Luxembourg roots in Argentina”
- L’essentiel — “Documentary film sheds light on Luxembourgish heritage in Argentina”
- RTL — “An overview of the Luxembourgish community in Argentina”
- Luxemburger Wort — “Astor Schiantarelli and the journey to his roots in Heckbous”
Screenings & contact
For screening requests, broadcast licensing or festival inquiries, contact Daniel.