Locarno Leopard On The Prowl

The Locarno Film Festival, arguably the most picturesque film event in the world with its setting in the southern Switzerland resort town surrounded by mountains and lakes, is one of Europe’s premiere film showcases. It has an astonishing program of films in the main competition, the panorama showcase and the “larger” titles that unspool in the historic Piazza Grande as outdoor screenings. The range is quite extraordinary, with a special focus on auteur cinema from Europe, Asia and the Americas. The parallel industry events, a showcase of short films, a competition for debut directors, the Open Doors program of projects from sub-Saharan Africa and lifetime achievement awards to actors Alain Delon, Harry Belafonte and Gael Garcia Bernal and directors Johnny To and Dino Risi, make this a truly eclectic, must attend event (so why am I not there?)

Among the anticipated films to screen at outdoor screenings in the historical Piazza Grande (one of the most romantic settings for film on the planet) are BACHELORETTE (Leslye Headland, United States),  CAMILLE REDOUBLE (Noémie Lvovsky, France),  MAGIC MIKE (Steven Soderbergh, United States), MORE THAN HONEY (Markus Imhoof, Switzerland/Germany/Austria),  MOTORWAY (Soi Cheang, Hong Kong), NO (Pablo Larraín, Chile/Mexico), RUBY SPARKS (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, United States),  SIGHTSEERS (Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom),  THE BLACK BALLOON (Josh and Benny Safdie, United States) and THE SWEENEY (Nick Love, United Kingdom).

The Concorso internazionale presents a stimulating panorama of contemporary auteur cinema, with a strong smattering of American independents and others in the early stages of their film careers. A mix of fiction and documentary features, the 19 films from all over the world, are in the running for the prestigious Pardo d’Oro (the Golden Leopard Prize. For information on the complete program and to watch the live webcasts from the event, visit: www.pardo.ch

Among the competing titles in this year’s Concorso internazionale:

• A ÚLTIMA VEZ QUE VI MACAU (João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata, Portugal/France)
• BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (Peter Strickland, United Kingdom/Germany/Australia)
• COMPLIANCE (Craig Zobel, United States)
• DER GLANZ DES TAGES (Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Austria)
• IMAGE PROBLEM (Simon Baumann and Andreas Pfiffner, Switzerland)       
• JACK AND DIANE (Bradley Rust Gray, United States)
• LA FILLE DE NULLE PART (Jean-Claude Brisseau, France
• LEVIATHAN (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, United Kingdom/US/France)
• LOS MEJORES TEMAS (Nicolás Pereda, Mexico/Canada/Netherlands)
• MOBILE HOME (François Pirot, Belgium/Luxembourg/France)
• MUSEUM HOURS by Jem Cohen (Austria/United States)
• PADRONI DI CASA (Edoardo Gabbriellini, Italy)
• PLAYBACK (Sho Miyake, Japan)
• POLVO (Julio Hernández Cordón, Guatemala/Spain/Chile/Germany)
• SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (Bob Byington, United States)
• STARLET (Sean Baker, United States)
• THE END OF TIME (Peter Mettler, Switzerland/Canada)
• UNE ESTONIENNE A PARIS (France/Estonia/Belgium)
• WO HAI YOU HUA YAO SHUO (Ying Liang, South Korea)

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