Guillaume Canet and Mélanie Laurent to be honored at Locarno

Guillaume Canet and Mélanie Laurent to be honored at Locarno Keystone-SDA

The French filmmakers and actors will receive the Davide Campari Excellence Award at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.

The duo star in the French feature film “Le Déluge“, by Gianluca Jodice, which will be screened in the Piazza Grande as the opening film of the festival, the organisers announced in Zurich on Wednesday when presenting the programme. The film follows the last days of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette. The duo will also receive their awards on August 7.

Rivers and Sangsoo in competition

The 77th Locarno Film Festival (TI) presents 225 films from August 7 to 17, including 104 world premieres. This year’s international competition features 17 films vying for the Golden Leopard. These include features by Ben Rivers and Hong Sangsoo, as well as lesser-known directors such as Saule Bliuvaite from Lithuania, Marta Mateus from Portugal, Sylvie Ballyot from France and Sara Fgaier from Italy. Switzerland’s Ramon Zürcher presents “Der Spatz im Kamin” (“The Sparrow in the Chimney”).

In addition, the “Filmmakers of the moment” category features 15 films in competition, including numerous works from Eastern Europe and by young talents. “Hanami” by Lisbon-born Denise Fernandes from Ticino is among them.

Many Swiss films

For its first edition under the presidency of Maja Hoffmann, the festival devotes a large part of its programme to Swiss cinema. A total of 41 Swiss films will be screened. Swiss co-productions, such as “Reinas” by Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker Klaudia Reynicke and “Electric Child” by Zurich-based Simon Jacquement, will be shown in the Piazza Grande.

Among the international films to be screened outdoors under the Ticino sky is “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” by Iranian director Mohammad Rasulof, “one of the most courageous films of recent years”, according to the festival’s artistic director, Giona Nazzaro.

Film buffs will also have the opportunity to rediscover several restored films, such as Orson Welles’ “The Lady from Shanghai“, as part of a retrospective dedicated to the centenary of the American production company Columbia Pictures. In the “History of Cinema” section, ten restored films by experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage will be screened.

Uncertain financial situation

Speaking to the media, Festival Director Raphaël Brunschwig drew attention to the fact that public funding for the Locarno Festival was not guaranteed for the coming years. “One of our priorities is to expand our collaboration with private partners,” he said.

The festival’s aim is also to find new international partners. “The financial situation is not easy, but we are well positioned,” assured Brunschwig.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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