Locarno unveils the programme of its parallel sections

by Muriel Del Don

20/07/2021 - The festival returns on the impressive Piazza Grande and offers this year a new competitive programme Corti d’autore, in the Pardi di domani section

Locarno unveils the programme of its parallel sections

Beckett by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino

UPDATE (20 July 2021): 100 Minutes (Sto minut iz zhizni Ivana Denisovicha), the new film by Russian filmmaker Gleb Panfilov, Golden Leopard in 1969, has been added to the Piazza Grande.

The Locarno Film Festival has today unveiled the programme for its 74th edition (from 4 to 14 August), including its parallel sections (in addition to the films in Competition and Out of Competition - read the news).

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The gigantic Piazza Grande will host 14 films this year (7 world premieres) among which half are European productions. Among the world premieres are the Italian features Beckett [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
film profile] by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, the opening film of this edition, and the highly anticipated animated film Yaya e Lennie - The Walking Liberty [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Alessandro Rak which talks with poetry about the important environmental questions that are taking more and more space in the public sphere. Switzerland couldn’t not be invited for the 50 year anniversary of the Piazza and will therefore be present with Monte Verità [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Jäger
film profile], the new film from Stefan Jäger, which transports us to the heart of a legendary and free community. Also world premiering is Rose [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] from French director Aurélie Saada, starring an almost-octogenarian who redefines the concept of old age, and the detective film Hinterland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Ruzowitzky
film profile] by Stefan Ruzowitsky. Undoubtedly, Gaspar Noé's Vortex [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] is also expected, after its premiere in Cannes.

The programme for the Cineasti del presente competition, which for Locarno represents the place where the public can discover a selection of first or second works directed by young talents from all over the world, was also announced. From this year on, this competition will also add Best Actress and Best Actor awards to the Golden Leopard and the Best Director Award. This year, the selected European productions will be numerous, which will allow the Locarno public to enjoy the best of tomorrow’s cinema. Among these are The Legionnaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hleb Papou
film profile] by the young Belarusian but Italian by adoption director Hleb Papou; the German No One's with the Calves [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sabrina Sarabi
film profile] by German and Iranian director Sabrina Sarabi, a film based on the book by newcomer Alina Herbing in which the province is shown in all its brutal reality; the French Our Eternal Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Émilie Aussel
film profile] by Émilie Aussel, a bitter-sweet portrait of a summer in which adolescent lightness rhymes with a brutal entry into adulthood; Wet Sand [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile] by Georgian director and former student of the HEAD in Geneva Elene Naveriani; Zahorí [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marí Alessandrini
film profile] by the Argentinian director but also a former student of the HEAD of Geneva Marì Alessandrini, a magical and mysterious journey through the Patagonian steppes; Streams [+see also:
trailer
interview: Mehdi Hmili
film profile] by Tunisian director Mehdi Hmili; Brotherhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Montagner
film profile] by the young Italian director Francesco Montagner who bravely tackles the sensitive issue of terrorism and religious extremism; Holy Emy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Araceli Lemos
film profile], the first feature film by Greek director and screenwriter Araceli Lemos, in which mysticism and introspection perfectly duet, and Whether the Weather Is Fine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Filipino director and editor Carlo Francisco Manatad.

In addition to the newly appointed artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, the festival this year gives us a new competitive programme titled Corti d’autore, in the Leopards of Tomorrow section, with new shorts by Radu Jude, Bertrand Mandico, Yann Gonzalez and also Marco Bellocchio among others. Finally, the independent section Semaine de la Critique, programmed by the Association of Swiss Film Journalists (ASFJ), has also unveiled its selection.

The selected films:

Piazza Grande

Beckett [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
film profile] - Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (Italy)
Free Guy - Shawn Levy (United States)
Heat - Michael Mann (United States) (1995)
Hinterland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Ruzowitzky
film profile] - Stefan Ruzowitzky (Austria/Luxembourg)
Ida Red - John Swab (United States)
Monte Verità [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Jäger
film profile] - Stefan Jäger (Switzerland/Austria/Germany)
National Lampoon’s Animal House - John Landis (United States) (1978)
Respect - Liesl Tommy (Canada)
Rose [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Aurélie Saada (France)
Sinkhole - Kim Ji-hoon (South Korea)
The Alleys - Bassel Ghandour (Jordan/Egypt/Saudi Arabia/Qatar)
The Terminator - James Cameron (United States) (1984)
Vortex [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Gaspar Noé (France)
Yaya e Lennie - The Walking Liberty [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Alessandro Rak (Italy)
100 Minutes (Sto minut iz zhizni Ivana Denisovicha) - Gleb Panfilov (Russia)

Cineasti del presente

Actual People - Kit Zauhar (United States)
Holy Emy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Araceli Lemos
film profile] - Araceli Lemos (Greece/France/United States)
Public Toilet Africa - Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah (Ghana)
Brotherhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Montagner
film profile] - Francesco Montagner (Czech Republic/Italy)
Virgin Blue - Niu Xiaoyu (China)
The Legionnaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hleb Papou
film profile] - Hleb Papou (Italy/France)
Whether the Weather Is Fine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Carlo Francisco Manatad (Philippines/France/Singapore/Indonesia/Germany/Qatar)
Our Eternal Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Émilie Aussel
film profile] - Émilie Aussel (France)
Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos - Claudia Huaiquimilla (Chile)
Mostro - José Pablo Escamilla (Mexico)
No One's with the Calves [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sabrina Sarabi
film profile] - Sabrina Sarabi (Germany)
Shankar's Fairies - Irfana Majumdar (India)
Streams [+see also:
trailer
interview: Mehdi Hmili
film profile] - Mehdi Hmili (Tunisia/Luxembourg/France)
Wet Sand [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile] - Elene Naveriani (Switzerland/Georgia)
Zahorí [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marí Alessandrini
film profile] - Marì Alessandrini (Switzerland/Argentina/Chile/France)

Pardi di domani - International Competition

The Infernal Machine - Francis Vogner Dos Reis (Brazil)
And Then They Burn the Sea - Majid Al-Remaihi (Qatar)
Atrapaluz - Kim Torres (Costa Rica/Mexico)
Christmas - Fengrui Zhang (China/United States)
Neon Phantom - Leonardo Martinelli (Brazil)
FIRST TIME [The Time for All but Sunset - VIOLET] - Nicolaas Schmidt (Germany)
Giochi - Simone Bozzelli (Italy)
Home - Myriam Uwiragiye Birara (Rwanda)
In Flow of Words - Eliane Esther Bots (Netherlands)
Layl - Ahmad Saleh (Germany/Qatar/Jordan/Palestine)
Les Démons de Dorothy - Alexis Langlois (France)
Love, Dad - Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Mask - Nava Rezvani (Iran)
Dad's Sneakers - Olha Zhurba (Ukraine)
Sound of the Night - Chanrado Sok, Kongkea Vann (Cambodia)
Squish! - Tulapop Saenjaroen (Thailand/Singapore)
Steakhouse - Špela Čadež (Slovenia/Germany/France)
Strawberry Cheesecake - Siyou Tan (Singapore)
The Sunset Special - Nicolas Gebbe (Germany)
Time Flows in Strange Ways on Sundays - Giselle Lin (Singapore)

Pardi di domani - National Competition

after a room - Naomi Pacifique (United Kingdom/Netherlands/Switzerland)
Cavales - Juliette Riccaboni (Switzerland)
Chute - Nora Longatti (Switzerland)
Dihya - Lucia Martinez Garcia (Switzerland)
Ding - Pascale Egli, Aurelio Ghirardelli (Switzerland)
It Must - Flavio Luca Marano, Jumana Issa (Switzerland)
Four Pills at Night - Leart Rama (Kosovo/Switzerland)
Mr. Pete & the Iron Horse - Kilian Vilim (Switzerland)
Real News - Luka Popadić (Switzerland/Serbia)
The Life Underground - Loïc Hobi (Switzerland)

Pardi di domani - Corti d’autori

Caricaturana - Radu Jude (Romania)
Criatura - María Silvia Esteve (Argentina/Switzerland)
Dead Flash - Bertrand Mandico (France)
Fou de Bassan - Yann Gonzalez (France)
Happiness Is a Journey - Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan (United States/Estonia)
Hotel Royal - Salomé Lamas (Portugal)
How Do You Measure a Year? - Jay Rosenblatt (United States)
Il faut fabriquer ses cadeaux - Cyril Schäublin (Switzerland)
Penalty Shot - Rok Biček (Croatia/Slovenia/Austria)
Se posso permettermi - Marco Bellocchio (Italy)