The Locarno Film Festival (August 7-17) has revealed the line-up for its 77th edition, with directors including Hong Sangsoo, Wang Bing and Ben Rivers world premiering their latest films in its international competition.
Playing out of competition at Locarno are world premieres from directors including Radu Jude, Fabrice du Welz, Aislinn Clarke, Bertrand Mandico, and Marco Tullio Giordana. Locarno’s famed Piazza Grande screenings include world premieres from Paz Vega, César Díaz and Gianluca Jodice.
Locarno’s international competition comprises 17 films, all of them world premieres, which will vie for the coveted Golden Leopard awards.
Scroll down for full line-up
They include British filmmaker and artist Ben River’s documentary Bogancloch, a sequel to 2011’s award-winning Two Years At Sea, which follows a modern day hermit living a solitary life in highland forest in Scotland.
Prolific South Korean director Hong Sangsoo comes with Suyoocheon (By The Stream), having just premiered A Traveler’s Needs in competition at the Berlinale in February. His latest stars Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo and Cho Yunhee.
China’s Wang Bing comes to Locarno with the latest documentary in his Youth series. Wang’s Youth (Spring), focused on young clothing factory workers in China, played in Competition at Cannes in 2023. He brings Youth (Hard Times) to Locarno.
Also in competition is German director Christoph Hochhäusler’s noir thriller Death Will Come (La Mort Viendra), centring on a female assassin who is hired by a leading gangster to avenge the murder of one of his couriers but soon finds herself the prey.
Berlinale Golden Bear-winning director Radu Jude has two films playing out of competition at Locarno. Eight Postcards From Utopia, co-directed with Christian Ferencz-Flatz, is a found-footage documentary assembled exclusively out of post-socialist Romanian advertisements. The Romanian director also brings Sleep #2. Both films are sold by Heretic.
Irish writer and director Aislinn Clarke also world premieres out of competition her horror film Fréwaka, starring Clare Monnelly Bríd Ní Neachtain and Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya. Fréwaka follows the story of a student palliative care nurse, played by Monnelly, who is plagued by a past trauma that has a disorienting effect on her relationship, her career and her ability to function.
Alongside the official selection, French actor-directors Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet will be honoured with Locarno’s Excellence Award Davide Campari, dedicated to performers with extraordinary careers. Both star in Locarno world premiere The Deluge by Gianluca Jodice, which opens the festival with a screening in the Piazza Grande.
Laurent and Canet join a list of honorees at Locarno’s 77th edition: Shah Rukh Khan for the Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism, Jane Campion for the Pardo d’Onore Manor, Ben Burtt for the Vision Award Ticinomoda, Claude Barras for the Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare, Stacey Sher for the Raimondo Rezzonico Award, and Irène Jacob for the Leopard Club Award.
Announcing the selection, Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro said: ”Film after film, we have pieced together a mosaic that reflects the multiple forms of contemporary cinema. Being aware that cinema as a form of art exists only as long as it has a dialogue with a wide audience, we have avoided the comfort of elitism, questioning ourselves once again as critics, programmers, and curators. And as spectators, always.”
International Competition
Agora (Tun-Fr-Saudi-Qatar)
Dir. Ala Eddine Slim
Akiplėša (Toxic) (Lith)
Dir. Saulė Bliuvaitė
Bogancloch (Uk-Ger-Ice)
Dir. Ben Rivers
International sales: Rediance
Cent Mille Milliards (Fr)
Dir. Virgil Vernier
Der Spatz Im Kamin (Switz)
Dir.Ramon Zürcher
International sales: Cercamon
Fire Of Wind (Port-Switz-Fr)
Dir. Marta Mateus
International sales: Portugal Film - Portuguese Film Agency
Green Line (Fr-Leb-Qatar)
Dir. Sylvie Ballyot
Death Will Come (Ger-Lux)
Dir. Christoph Hochhäusler
International sales: True Colours
Luce (It)
Dir. Silvia Luzi, Luca Bellino
Mond (Austria)
Dir. Kurdwin Ayub
Youth (Hard Times) (Fr-Lux-Neth)
Dir. Wang Bing
International sales: Pyramide International
Suyoocheon (By The Stream) (S.Kor)
Dir. Hong Sangsoo
International sales: Finecut
Salve Maria (Sp)
Dir. Mar Coll
International sales: Be For Films
Drowning Dry (Lith-Lat)
Dir. Laurynas Bareiša
International sales: Alpha Violet
Sulla Terra Leggeri (It)
Dir. Sara Fgaier
International sales: Rai Cinema International salesDistribution
Transamazonia (Fr-Ger-Switz-Tai-Braz)
Dir. Pia Marais
International sales: The Party Film Sales
New Dawn Fades (Turkey-It-Ger-Nor-Neth)
Dir. Gürcan Keltek
International sales: Heretic
Cinema Of The Present
Crickets, It’s Your Turn (Fr-Kaz)
Dir. Olga Korotko
International Sales: Cercamon
Der Fleck (Ger-Switz)
Dir. Willy Hans
Fario (Fr)
Dir. Lucie Prost
Lesson Learned (Hun)
Dir. Bálint Szimler
Foul Evil Deeds (UK)
Dir. Richard Hunter
Hanami (Switz-Port-Cape Verde)
Dir. Denise Fernandes
Holy Electricity (Georgia-Neth)
Dir. Tato Kotetishvili
Invention (Us)
Dir. Courtney Stephens
Joqtau (Kaz)
Dir. Aruan Anartay
When The Phone Rang (Serbia)
Dir. Iva Radivojević
Listen To The Voices (Belg-Fr-French Guiana)
Dir. Maxime Jean-Baptiste
Les Enfants Rouges (Tun-Fr-Belg-Pol)
Dir. Lotfi Achour
International Sales: Mpm Premium
Monólogo Colectivo (Arg-UK)
Dir. Jessica Sarah Rinland
Olivia & Las Nubes (Dom Rep)
Dir. Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat
Real (It-Fr)
Dir. Adele Tulli
International Sales: Intramovies
Out Of Competition
Ang Bang (US)
Dir. Vincent Grashaw
Cartas Telepáticas (Telepathic Letters) (Port)
Dir. Edgar Pêra
Dragon Dilatation (Fr)
Dir. Bertrand Mandico
Espèce Menacée (Switz)
Dir. Bruno Deville
International Sales: Playtime
Fréwaka (Ire)
Dir. Aislinn Clarke
International Sales: New Europe Film Sales
La Passion Selon Béatrice (Fr-Belg)
Dir. Fabrice Du Welz
La Prodigiosa Trasformazione Della Classe Operaia In Stranieri (Switz-It)
Dir. Samir
La Vita Accanto (It)
Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana
International Sales: Intramovies
Ma Famille Chérie (Fr)
Dir. Isild Le Besco
Eight Postcards From Utopia (Rom)
Dir. Radu Jude, Christian Ferencz-Flatz
International Sales: Heretic
Sleep #2 (Rom)
Dir. Radu Jude
International Sales: Heretic
Piazza Grande
Electric Child (Switz-Ger-Neth-Phil)
Dir. Simon Jaquemet
Gaucho Gaucho (US)
Dir. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
International Sales: Charades
Le Déluge (It-Fr)
Dir. Gianluca Jodice
International Sales: Goodfellas
Le Procès Du Chien (Switz-Fr)
Dir. Laetitia Dosch
International Sales: Mk2
Mexico 86 (Belg-Fr)
Dir. César Díaz
International Sales: Goodfellas
Reinas (Switz-Peru-Sp)
Dir. Klaudia Reynicke
International Sales: The Yellow Affair
Rita (Sp)
Dir. Paz Vega
International Sales: Filmax
Sauvages (Switz-Fr-Belg)
Dir. Claude Barras
International Sales: Goodfellas
Sew Torn (US-Switz)
Dir. Freddy Macdonald
International Sales: UTA
Shambhala (Nepal-Fr-Nor-Turkey-Hk-Tai-US-Qatar)
Dir. Min Bahadur Bham
International Sales: Best Friend Forever
The Fall (Restored Cut) (S.Africa-India-UK)
Dir. Tarsem Singh
International Sales: The Match Factory
The Piano (Aus-Nz-Fr)
Dir. Jane Campion
International Sales: Newen Connect
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Iran-Ger-Fr)
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
International Sales: Films Boutique
Timestalker (UK)
Dir. Alice Lowe
International Sales: Hanway Films
Une Femme Est Une Femme (Fr-It)
Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
International Sales: Studiocanal
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