New projects by directors Lorenz Merz, Ann Oren and Sara Fattahi are among those selected for Locarno Pro’s Alliance 4 Development initiative which runs from August 4-6.
The initiative is an integral part of Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro industry strand and is aimed at encouraging co-productions between Switzerland and France, Germany and Italy.
Scroll down for full list of projects
11 projects were chosen out of 74 submissions. During the three Alliance 4 Development programme, participants will meet with potential partners and attend panels and networking events.
Lorenz Merz will attend with Who/Man, which is produced by Michela Pini of Switzerland’s 8horses. The Swiss director won a special mention for his 2021 Locarno competition film Soul Of A Beast.
Ann Oren comes with Objet A, produced by Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens, Fabian
Altenried of Germany’s Schuldenberg Films. Oren’s debut feature Piaff world premiered last year in international competition at Locarno, where it was picked up by Chinese sales agent Rediance.
Sara Fattahi will present Calm, which is produced by Sabine Moser and Oliver Neumann of Austria’s FreibeuterFilm. Fattahi’s 2018 film Chaos won the Golden Leopard for best film in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present Competition.
Francesca Palleschi, project manager of Alliance 4 Development, said: ‘This year’s selection presents a variety of genres, themes, and visions in a dynamic balance between emerging and more established filmmakers.”
Recent hit titles to have come out of the programme include Berlinale 2023 entries Music by Angela Schanelec and L’Amour du Monde by Jenna Hasse; Chicken for Linda by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach (Cannes ACID & Annecy 2023); Continental Drift by Lionel Baier (Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes 2022); and Semret by Caterina Mona, which debuted on the Piazza Grande at Locarno75.
Alliance 4 Development 2023 projects:
Calm (Austria)
Dir: Sara Fattahi
Prod: Sabine Moser and Oliver Neumann, FreibeuterFilm
Prince Aden (It-Port-Fr)
Dir: Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio
Prod: Alessandro Borrelli, La Sarraz Pictures, in coproduction with Luis Urbano, O Som E A Furia and Lionel Massol, Films Grand Huit
Irina Makinskaia (W/T) (Fr)
Dir: Alexandra de Saint-Blanquat
Prod: Omar El Kadi and Nadia Turincev, Easy Riders Films
The Passion of Aline (Swiss)
Dir: Rokhaya Marieme Balde
Prod: Linda Vogel, Cyril Schäublin, Chantal Scheiner, Seeland Filmproduktion
The Young One (Fr)
Dir: Despina Athanassiadis
Prod: Quentin Daniel, Wombat Films
Mila/Marija (Austria-Slov)
Dir: Andrina Mračnikar
Prod: Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu and Bady Minck, Amour Fou, and and Daniel Hočevar, Vertigo Ljubljana
Objet A (Ger)
Dir: Ann Oren
Prod: Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens, Fabian Altenried, Schuldenberg Films
Pas Ta Maman (Ger)
Dir: Michèle Flury
Prod: Jochen Laube, Fabian Maubach and Felix Schreiber, Sommerhaus Filmproduktion,
To Put Out One Fire (Swiss)
Dir: Jela Hasler
Prod: Olivier Zobrist Langfilm,
Urania (It)
Dir: Pier Lorenzo Pisano
Prod: Domenico Procacci and Laura Paolucci, Fandango
Who/Man (Swiss)
Dir: Lorenz Merz
Prod: Michela Pini, 8hors
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