Anticipation was high for the 76th edition of Locarno Film Festival, one of Europe’s leading independent film circuits. The prize is the much-coveted Pardo, the leopard that symbolizes the event and which tints Swiss from August 2nd to 12th.
For 33 years, long time achievements of prominent filmmakers have been awarded with the Pardo Alla Carriera. In 2022 it was received by Kelly Reichardt, and this year it is Tsai Ming-liang’s turn. The Taiwanese auteur is present in town and conversed with Kevin B. Lee on the future of cinema in a panel open to the public. Unfortunately, the festival lacks a retrospective dedicated to him, which perhaps would have been necessary, while only his 2020 film, Days, gets to be screened. The Pardo D’Onore will be given to the radical filmmaker Harmony Korine, who is now considered a cult auteur for his brutality against the rules. Gummo (1997) and Spring Breakers (2012) are his works selected to be screened during these days.
The program is packed with new gems from all over the world, scattered in the different categories, but a look to the past is always due.
The Retrospective section is always particularly interesting, and this year it’s dedicated to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Amongst these classic movies, it’s worth mentioning the renowned comedy directed by Gilberto Martinez Solares in 1950: El Rey Del Barrio.
The section Histoire(s) Du Cinéma re-presents films of the past such as Hitchcock’s The Lodger (screened with in-house orchestra) among others, works of artists who get to be awarded for their career, or real pearls of restored Swiss cinema. Notable among these is certainly Si Le Soleil Ne Revenait Pas (1987), by Claude Goretta. A film that has the visual power of Caravaggio’s paintings and which – in almost Dreyerian tones – presents the life of a mountain village in which looms the threat of a prophecy according to which the sun will never rise again, highlighting (or rather, overshadowing), the fragility inherent to the human being.
But the core of the festival and the section that attracts the most media attention is certainly the Official Competition. Seventeen films from all over the globe compete for the Golden Pardo (Pardo D’Oro), which will be announced on August 12th.
Animal: A Greek film by Sophie Exarchou, who through a group of vacation village entertainers explores the degradation of the tourism machine that swallows up everything.
Baan: Debut feature by Portuguese Leonor Teles, a story of an encounter between two people in Lisbon where the boundaries of time blur in confusion.
El Auge Del Humano 3: Chronicle of a group of friends navigating a world of darkness, rain and wind, directed by the Argentine Eduardo Williams
Essential Truths of The Lake: The much-anticipated new feature of the Filipino master filmmaker Lav Diaz, revolving around the same investigator protagonist of When The Waves Are Gone – presented in Venice Film Festival 2022.
La Imatge Permanent: Feature debut of Spanish director Laura Ferrés, set in postwar Spain and drawing inspiration from the stories and songs of migrants from Andalusia to Catalonia.
Lousy Carter: From USA, a tale of a man adrift who receives a new chance by playing The Great Gatsby – Directed by Bob Byington.
Manga D’Terra: The Swiss director Basil Da Cunha brings to life the story of Rosa, from Cape Verde to Lisbon, clinging to music to escape abuse.
Critical Zone: From Iran, a film shot by Ali Ahmadzadeh showing the anger and hopelessness of the new generation of Iranians through the filter of a drug dealer’s night shift.
The Invisible Fight: From Latvia, the work of Rainer Sarnet, is a Kung-Fu comedy set in an Orthodox monastery in the 1970s USSR.
Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World: Yet another Romanian masterpiece signed by Radu Jude is highly listed for the Golden Pardo. An all-encompassing film that with cruel sarcasm tells all you need to know about the contemporary world.
Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, n’importe où: A portrait of a core group of children living on the streets and hoping to escape the Spanish-Moroccan enclave to reach Europe – Directed by the French Sylvain George.
Patagonia: The feature debut of Italian director Simone Bozzelli is the tale of two young men dreaming of leaving their suffocating environment in pursuit of the chimera of freedom, represented by Patagonia.
Rossosperanza: By Italian director Annarita Zambrano. A film about the outcast children of well-off families who are sent to a rehabilitation center in an attempt to make them “Normal”.
Stepne: By Ukrainian director Maryna Vroda, the story of a man who returns home to take care of his dying mother.
Sweet Dreams: By Bosnian director Ena Sendijarevic, is a kind of horror fairy tale set in colonial Indonesia.
The Vanishing Soldier: An Israeli film directed by Dani Rosenberg and coming across as a ruthless critique of the military. It’s the tale of an 18-year-old soldier’s escape from Gaza to meet his girlfriend.
Yannick: By French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux, is a tale of a boulevard comedy interrupted by the protagonist who takes over the show.
Such are the films competing for the 76th Pardo D’oro, which only one will get. The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday, August 12, with the announcement of the winners.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere of the festival is charged with electricity and love for cinema.
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