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Elated to announce that Filmy Sasi will be covering the 74th edition of the prestigious Locarno Film Festival. Founded in 1946, it is one of the longest-running film festivals, and is also known for being a platform for art house films. Held every year August in Locarno, Switzerland, the top prize of the Festival is the Golden Leopard, awarded to the best film in the International Competition. Other awards include the Leopard of Honour for career achievement, and the Prix du Public UBS, the public choice award.
A press conference held on Thursday 1st July, saw the presentation of the official program of the 74th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, the first to be held under Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro. After an unusual and unpredictable year, the Festival’s most iconic venues, competitions and prizes are all set to return, together with a new competitive program of auteur shorts, “Corti d’autore”, and the new section Locarno Kids: Screenings.
The Locarno Film Festival returns to its original physical format under the guidance of new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, who worked with the Selection Committees to pick out the titles screening in Locarno from 4 through 14 August. Alongside the welcome return of long-established favorites, there are also new items such as the competitive short films program Corti d’autore in the Pardi di domani section, plus a dedicated program for younger viewers: Locarno Kids: Screenings.
In full compliance with current health and sanitary regulations, Locarno74 will once again be an in-person event, with the return of evenings in Piazza Grande and of screenings in the other twelve theaters around the city. The venue for all meetings and panel discussions with guest personalities accompanying their films will be the Rotonda by la Mobiliare, the new home of the Forum.
Seat reservation will be mandatory for this edition for everybody, also for holders of a season ticket or an accreditation, and it will only be made through our online ticket shop. The online shop has been optimized and made more accessible, both on the website and in the app. Regarding Piazza Grande, Palexpo (FEVI) and Rotonda, access will only be allowed for those with a Covid certificate together with a seat reservation, while the other theaters will be under a regime of contact tracing, social distancing and use of face masks, also combined with seat reservation.
The jury line-ups for the 74th edition of the Locarno Film Festival were also announced today. The jurors for Locarno’s International Competition will be filmmaker Eliza Hittman (president), artist and filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson, director Philippe Lacôte and actresses Leonor Silveira and Isabella Ferrari. The jury for the Cineasti del presente Competition will be made up of actress Agathe Bonitzer, filmmaker Mattie Do and Vanja Kaludjercic, director of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
The short films in the Pardi di domani section will be judged by filmmaker Kamal Aljafari, producer Marie-Pierre Macia and filmmaker, artist and curator Adina Pintilie. Lastly, the First Feature jury will see director and producer Amjad Abu Alala joined by editor Karina Ressler and filmmaker Katharina Wyss.
The following prize winners already announced will be attending Locarno in person: Pardo d’onore Manor, John Landis; Excellence Award Davide Campari, Laetitia Casta; Vision Award Ticinomoda, Phil Tippett; Best Producer Award (Premio Raimondo Rezzonico), Gale Anne Hurd; and for the Pardo alla carriera achievement award, Dante Spinotti.
Competitive sections
Piazza Grande: 14 films, including 7 World Premieres, will be screened in Piazza Grande, the huge outdoor theater which has a capacity of 8,000 seats.
Concorso internazionale: Locarno’s International Competition, exploring new territories in the film arts, will feature 17 titles this year.
Concorso Cineasti del presente: The future-focused selection of works by filmmakers of the present includes 15 films, all first or second features and World Premieres.
Pardi di domani: The competitions dedicated to Swiss and international “leopards of tomorrow” are joined from this year by the competition Corti d’autore, reserved for established auteurs, bringing the total number of films to 40, all World Premieres.
Non-competitive sections
Fuori concorso: 6 films out of competition, including 5 World Premieres and one International Premiere, all by high-profile directors, exploring the range of approaches to storytelling in film.
Histoire(s) du cinéma: Fresh perspectives on cinema history with 23 films, including prestige restorations, World Premieres and an International Premiere.
Retrospective: The career of Alberto Lattuada, a key figure in 20th century film culture, featuring 41 titles ranging from full-length features and short subjects to productions made for television.
Locarno Kids: Screenings: A rite of passage to the world of cinema, with 5 titles for children by filmmakers both of the past and the present.
Open Doors Screenings: Bringing the three-year cycle on cinemas in South-East Asia and Mongolia to a close, a fresh overview of the most interesting independent productions from the focus area.
Parallel sections
Semaine de la critique: The Semaine de la critique is made up of 7 full-length documentaries as International or World Premieres, selected by representatives from the Swiss Association of Film Journalists.
Panorama Suisse: An overview reflecting the current reality of filmmaking in Switzerland, with titles chosen by representatives from SWISS FILMS, Solothurn Film Festival and the Swiss Film Academy.
Read all film festival coverage HERE.
