Alfonso Cuarón to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is being recognized for his stellar career…

The 62-year-old Mexican filmmaker, known for award-winning films Gravity and Roma, will receive the 2024 Locarno Film Festival‘s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The five-time Oscar winner will receive the award on Sunday, August 11 in Piazza Grande.

That same day, the audience will have an opportunity to meet the Mexican filmmaker in a panel conversation at Forum Spazio Cinema.

The Locarno tribute will be accompanied by the screening of Alain Tanner’s Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l’an 2000, which was personally selected by Cuarón.

Before the screening of Tanner’s film, Cuarón will discuss its significance both for his own work and film history in general. The conversation will be moderated by Frédéric Maire, director of Cinémathèque Suisse, and is organized in collaboration with Les Films du Camélia.

Cuarón is best known for movies including Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Children of Men (2006), Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018).

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the festival, said: “Alfonso Cuarón is a visionary author of agile and liberated imaginaries. Combining an experimental spirit with the sweep of great popular writers, he has managed to capture the imagination and hearts of millions of viewers, passing on the same wonder that he himself experienced as a child and teenager basking in the glow of classic Mexican cinema. From coming-of-age novels to science fiction, from melodrama to grand sagas like Harry Potter, Alfonso Cuarón has reinvented himself as an artist with each new film, always in the service of the pleasure of cinema, and has thus created a truly multifaceted body of work.”

Laura Ferrés’ “El Auge Del Humano 3” to Have Its World Premiere at Locarno Film Festival

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Laura Ferrés’ latest project will have its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival.

The 34-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s La Image Permanent is among the titles that have been added to the international competition for the upcoming 76th edition of the festival, running August 2 and 12.

The film will contend for the festival’s Golden Leopard award.

El Auge Del Humano 3, from director Eduardo Williams, will also compete at the festival in its world premiere.

In all, the festival’s main International Competition will showcase 17 films this year, 16 of them world premieres.

Another 15 titles by emerging directors will play in the festival’s Filmmakers of The Present competition, including Mexican director Mauricio Calderón Rico’s Todos Los Incendios, Spanish director Colectivo Negu’s Negu Hurbilak and María Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro’s On The Go.

Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro said the selection offered a dialogue-provoking snap-shot of the world today.

“While recent events certainly do not leave much room for optimism, cinema helps us to imagine – literally “put into images” – a possibility of the world,” he said, in a written statement on the selection.

“For this reason, while being aware of the historical moment in which our work has plunged, we have searched and looked in many directions, trying to grasp the meaning of a present that, despite everything, offers itself rich and exciting. A moment that we have attempted to grasp and recount by dialoguing with the films we have selected.”

Here’s a complete list of the films set to be featured at the festival:

International Competition Titles

Animal
Dir. Sofia Exarchou
Greece/Austria/Romania/Cyprus/Bulgaria
World premiere

Baan (Home) (Portugal)
Dir. Leonor Teles
Portugal
World premiere, First Feature

El Auge Del Humano 3
Dir. Eduardo Williams
Argentina/Portugal/Netherlands/Taiwan/Brazil/Hong Kong/Sri Lanka/ Peru)
World premiere

Essential Truths Of The Lake
Dir. Lav Diaz
Philippines/France/Portugal/Singapore/Italy/Switzerland/United Kingdom
World premiere

La Image Permanent (The Permanent Picture)
Dir. Laura Ferrés
France/Spain
World premiere, First Feature

Lousy Carter
Dir. Bob Byington
US
World premiere

Manga d’Terra (Switzerland/Portugal)
Dir.Basil Da Cunha
Switzerland/Portugal
World premiere

Mantagheye Bohrani (Critical Zone)
DirAli Ahmadzadeh
Iran/Germany
World premiere

Nähtamatu Võitlus (The Invisible Fight)
Dir. Rainer Sarnet
Estonia/Latvia/Greece/Finland
World premiere

Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où
Dir. Sylvain George
France/Switzerland
World premiere

Nu Aștepta Prea Mult De La Sfârșitul Lumii (Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World)
Dir. Radu Jude
Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia
World premiere

Patagonia
Dir. Simone Bozzelli
Italy
World premiere, First Feature

Rossosperanza
Dir. Annarita Zambrano
Italy/France
World premiere

Stepne
Dir.Maryna Vroda
Ukraine/Germany/Poland/Slovakia
World premiere, First Feature

Sweet dreams
Dir. Ena Sendijarević
Netherlands/Sweden/Indonesia/Réunion – 2023
World premiere

The Vanishing Soldier
Dir.Dani Rosenberg
Israel
World premiere

Yannick
Dir. Quentin Dupieux
France
International premiere

Piazza Grande Line-up

Anatomy Of A Fall
Dir. Justine Triet
France

Antarctica Calling (Continent Magnétique)
Dir. Luc Jacquet
France
World premiere

Guardians of the Formula (Čuvari Formule)
Dir. Dragan Bjelogrlić
Serbia/Slovenia/Montenegro/North Macedonia
World premiere

Dammi
Dir. Yann Mounir Demange
France
World premiere

Falling Stars
Dir. Richard Karpala, Gabriel Bienczycki
US
World premiere, First Feature

The Falling Star
Dir. Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel
France/Belgium
World premiere

The Beautiful Summer
Dir. Laura Luchetti
Italy
World premiere

City of Women (1980)
Dir. by Federico Fellini
Italy/France

La Paloma (1974)
Dir. Daniel Schmid
Switzerland/France

La Voie Royale
Dir. by Frédéric Mermoud
France/Switzerland
World premiere

Smugglers (Milsu)
Dir. RYOO Seung-wan
South Korea
European premiere

Filmmakers of The Present Competition

Camping du Lac
Dir. Eléonore Saintagnan
Belgium/France
World premiere, First Feature

Ein Schöner Ort
Dir. Katharina Huber
Germany
World premiere, First Feature

Excursion (Ekskurzija)
Dir. Una Gunjak
Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/ Serbia/France/Norway/Qatar
World premiere, First Feature

Family Portrait
Dir. Lucy Kerr
USA
World premiere, First Feature

Dreaming & Dying (Hao Jiu Bu Jian)
Dir. Nelson Yeo
Singapore/Indonesia
World premiere, First Feature

La Morsure
Dir. Romain de Saint-Blanquat
France
World premiere, First Feature

Negu Hurbilak
Dir. Colectivo Negu
Spain
World premiere, First Feature

On The Go
Dir. María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro
Spain
World premiere, First Feature

Rapture (Rimdogittanga)
Dir. Dominic Sangma
India/China/Switzerland/Netherlands/Qatar
World premiere

Rivière
Dir. Hugues Hariche
Switzerland/France
World premiere, First Feature

Todos Los Incendios
Dir. Mauricio Calderón Rico
Mexico
World premiere, First Feature

Touched
Dir. Claudia Rorarius
Germany
World premiere

Und Dass Man Ohne Täuschung Zu Leben Vermag
Dir. Katharina Lüdin
Germany/Switzerland
World premiere, First Feature

Whispers Of Fire & Water
Dir. Lubdhak Chatterjee
India
World premiere, First Feature

West Border (Xi Du)
Dir. Yan Luo
ChinaWorld premiere, First Feature

Wagner Moura to Star as Paulo Freire in Upcoming Biopic “Angicos”

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Wagner Moura has landed a new role…

The 46-year-old Brazilian actor, director and filmmaker will star in the upcoming biopic Angicos about Brazilian educator and author Paulo Freire.

Felipe Hirsch will write and direct the film.

Angicos begins in the town of the same name in Rio Grande do Norte in 1963, with the mission of educator Freire (Moura) to fight against illiteracy by teaching the entire village of blue-collar, domestic, and cotton farm workers how to read and write in only 40 hours – a seemingly impossible feat.

Funded by President John F. Kennedy to solidify the South American nation as an ally in the Cold War amidst worldwide social and economic tensions, the success of the endeavor resulted in the planned implementation of Freire’s literary system on a nationwide level. However, before long, political uprisings, a military coup and authoritarian local politicians resisted Freire’s education initiative, destroying texts, deeming the curriculum “subversive,” and eventually sending Freire into exile. These events demonstrated the power of literacy and education against autocratic rule – a testament to the significance of Freire’s methods.

“The enchantment amongst the people of Angicos by the battery-powered slide projectors Freire used in his classes is undeniable, especially as they associated the projections with cinema – something rare in their city at this time, as home television sets had not yet arrived,” said Hirsch. “To that end, Angicos doubles as a film about the power of cinema and the power of knowledge.”

Casting is underway for the film’s ensemble, with principal photography beginning in November of this year.

Moura’s previous credits include television appearances in Narcos, Narcos: Mexico and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, as well as film appearances in Wasp Network, The Gray Man and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Hirsch is a Brazilian film and theater director and one of the founders of Ultralíricos, a company where he develops award-winning and critically-acclaimed experiential art. He has been named by O Globo newspaper as one of the most influential thinkers in the country. In 2008, he won the Grammy for his work as the director of the show Homage to Tom Jobim.

In 2009, he directed his first feature film, Sunstroke, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. In 2016, he directed Severina, his second feature film, which made its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival. Most recently, Hirsch developed the stage project Língua Brasileira with singer/songwriter Tom Zé, and also directed the concert special 2022 for HBO Max, featuring Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso and many other Brazilian musicians.

Luis López Carrasco’s “The Year of Discovery” Wins Top Prize at Mar del Plata International Film Festival

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Luis López Carrasco is celebrating his big Discovery…

The 39-year-old Spanish filmmaker took home the Best International Film prize for his documentary The Year of the Discovery (El año del descubrimiento) on Sunday at Argentina’s Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the only Latin American film fest granted a Category A status by producers association FIAPF, placing it in the same league as the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival, among others.

Due to the restraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival hosted an online edition and offered free access to all Argentine residents.

Carrasco’s sophomore feature follows his debut film El Futuro, which premiered at Locarno and collected numerous awards on the festival circuit.

The Year of the Discovery portrays the flipside of 1992 Spain, which celebrated hosting the 1992 Barcelona Games and the World Expo in Seville while in Murcia, south-east Spain, enraged workers from the naval, mining and chemical sectors where companies were shut down, battled alongside students against the police, culminating with the launch of Molotov cocktails that set fire to the regional government’s Parliament.

In a video call from Spain, a grateful López Carrasco dedicated the award to his parents and brother “for being the people who most taught me how to listen.”

Colombian Camilo Restrepo’s Los Conductos won the best film prize in the festival’s Latin American competition. Winner of last year’s Mar del Plata Work in Progress competition, Los Conductos marks an attempt to explore Colombia’s civil conflicts with a style outside the canons of social realism as it follows a man in his attempts to flee from a sect and the trauma that still haunts him.

Maria Alvarez’s The Lost Time (El Tiempo Perdido) trounced a strong lineup in the Argentine competition, which included notable titles like Esquirlas, The History of the Occult and Las Ranas, to nab the best Argentine film prize.

In The Lost Time, a group of now aged friends find new and personal meaning in Marcel Proust’s seven-volume novel In Search of Lost Time at each of the 18 years they have gathered at a Buenos Aires bar to discuss it.

“In this online edition, more than 200,000 people saw the films we have programmed, and on YouTube, more than 180,000 people followed our events, so I congratulate the public who have known how to adapt to our circumstances,” said festival president Fernando Juan Lima at the online closing ceremony. “We miss the City of Mar del Plata and its movie theaters, but we are going to return,” he declared.

“We celebrate [the festival’s] continuity even with the challenges that the pandemic has imposed on us,” concurred festival artistic director Cecilia Barrionuevo. The festival paid homage to filmmaker-politician Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas, Argentine actress-writer-director Maria Luisa Bemberg and, naturally, Argentina’s greatest hero, soccer star Diego Maradona, who died Nov. 25 from heart failure.

Augusto Costa, minister of production, science, and technological innovation, also announced that Mar del Plata would be the site of the fifth regional headquarters of Argentine film school, Enerc.

“From the government and from the ministry, we reaffirm our absolute commitment to the festival and to the audiovisual industry of the province,” said Costa.

2020 MAR DEL PLATA ASTOR PIAZZOLLA PRIZES

OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

BEST FILM
“The Year of the Discovery,” (Luis López Carrasco, Spain, Switzerland)

BEST DIRECTOR
Matías Piñeiro, (“Isabella,” Argentina)

BEST PERFORMANCE
María Villar, (“Isabella,” Argentina)

BEST SCREENPLAY 
Nicolás Prividera, (“A Farewell to Memory,” Argentina)

SPECIAL JURY
“Moving On,” (Yoon Dan-bi, Korea)

LATIN AMERICAN COMPETITION

BEST FILM
“Los Conductos,” (Camilo Restrepo, Colombia, Brazil, France)

SPECIAL MENTION
“Mascarados,” (Marcela Borela and Henrique Borela, Brazil)

SPECIAL MENTION
“Fauna,” (Nicolás Pereda, Mexico)

BEST SHORT
“Correspondence,” (Dominga Sotomayor and Carla Simón, Chile)

ARGENTINE COMPETITION

BEST FILM
“The Lost Time,” (María Álvarez, Argentina)

SPECIAL MENTION
“Las Ranas,” (Edgardo Castro, Argentina)

BEST SHORT
“Homage to the Work of Philip Henry Gosse,” (Pablo Martín Weber)

BEST DIRECTOR
“Esquirlas,” (Natalia Garayalde, Argentina)

ALTERNATE STATES

BEST FILM
“My Dear Spies,” (Vladimir Léon, France)

SPECIAL MENTION
“Heliconia,” (Paula Rodríguez Polanco, France, Colombia)

WORK IN PROGRESS

BEST PROJECT
“Morichales,” (Chris Gude, Colombia, U.S.)

BEST LATIN AMERICAN DEBUT FILM, YOUNG CRITICS PRIZE
“History of the Occult,” (Cristian Ponce, Argentina)

Klaudia Reynicke Signs with The Gotham Group

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Klaudia Reynicke has new representation… And, she’s hoping that leads to a TV deal.

The 43-year-old Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker has signed with Los Angeles management and production outfit The Gotham Group.

Reynicke’s latest project Love Me Tender screened in the Toronto Film Festival’s Discovery strand this year, and now The Gotham Group plans to spearhead efforts to adapt the film into a television series.

Love Me Tender world premiered at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival in August. Reynicke also wrote the screenplay, which tells the story of Seconda, played by Barbara Giordano, a rebellious young woman with agoraphobia who is abruptly left alone by her unreliable father.

The film was produced by Switzerland’s Amka Films. Rome-based Summerside International is handling global sales. The feature will next screen at the BFI London Film Festival in October.

Reynicke’s debut feature was 2016 drama The Nest, which also premiered in Locarno.

She was born in Peru but lived in Florida for much of her youth; she is now based in Switzerland.

“A Febre” Star Regis Myrupu Wins Best Actor Prize at Locarno Film Festival in Acting Debut

Posted on August 18, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Regis Myrupu is making a memorable debut…

The Brazilian actor was named Best Actor at this year’s Locarno Film Festival for his beautifully understated performance as a security guard at Manaus Harbor in Brazilian filmmaker Maya Da-Rin’s The Fever.

“I never thought this would happen,” said Myrupu of his win for his performance in the film, which earned Da-Rin the FIPRESCI Prize.

Carlos Lenintook home the Peace Hotel Award for his film La Paloma y El Lobo. The 36-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s earned the award for his “future promise in world cinema.”

The international jury was headed by French filmmaker and novelist Catherine Breillat.

TheGolden Leopard, the Locarno Film Festival’s top honor, went to Portuguese directorPedro Costa, for his latest feature Vitalina Varela, which had its world premiere in the Swiss festival’s international competition.

The 2020 Locarno Film Festival will be from August 5-15.

This year’s winners are below:

International competition

Golden Leopard: Vitalina Varela by Pedro Costa, Portugal
Special Jury Prize: Pa-Go (Height Of The Wave) by Park Jung-Bum, South Korea
Leopard For Best Direction: Damien Manivel for Les Enfants D’isadora, France/South Korea
Leopard For Best Actress: Vitalina Varela for Vitalina Varela by Pedro Costa, Portugal
Leopard For Best Actor: Regis Myrupu for A Febre by Maya Da-Rin, Brazil/France/Germany
Special Mentions: Hiruk-Pikuk Si Al-Kisah (The Science Of Fictions) by Yosep Anggi Noen, Indonesia/Malaysia/France, Maternal by Maura Delpero, Italy/Argentina

Filmmakers Of The Present Competition

Cineasti Del Presente Golden Leopard: Baamum Nafi (Nafi’s Father) by Mamadou Dia, Senegal
Best Emerging Director Award: 143 Rue Du Désert by Hassen Ferhani, Algeria/France/Qatar
Special Jury Prize: Ivana Cea Groaznica (Ivana The Terrible) by Ivana Mladenović, Romania/Serbia
Special Mention: Here For Life by Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Adrian Jackson, United Kingdom

Moving Ahead

Moving Ahead Award: The Giverny Document (Single Channel) by Ja’tovia M. Gary, Usa/France
Special Mentions: Those That, At A Distance, Resemble Another by Jessica Sarah Rinland, United Kingdom/Argentina/Spain, Shān Zhī Běi (Osmosis) by Zhou Tao.

First Feature

First Feature Award: Baamum Nafi (Nafi’s Father) by Mamadou Dia, Senegal
Peace Hotel Award: La Paloma Y El Lobo (The Dove And The Wolf) by Carlos Lenin, Mexico
Special Mentions: Instinct by Halina Reijn, Netherlands, Fi Al-Thawra (During Revolution) by Maya Khoury, Syria/Sweden

Leopards Of Tomorrow – International Competition

Pardino D’oro For The Best International Short Film: Siyah Güneş (Black Sun) by Arda Çiltepe, Turkey/Germany (Locarno Short Film Nominee For The European Film Awards 2019)
Pardino D’argento: Umbilical by Danski Tang, Usa
Pardi Di Domani Best Direction Prize: Otpusk (Leave Of Absence) by Anton Sazonov, Russia
Premio Medien Patent Verwaltung Ag Prize: White Afro by Akosua Adoma Owusu, Ghana/USA

Leopards Of Tomorrow – National Competition

Pardino D’oro For The Best Swiss Short Film: Mama Rosa by Dejan Barac, Switzerland
Pardino D’argento Swiss Life: Tempête Silencieuse by Anaïs Moog, Switzerland
Best Swiss Newcomer Prize: Terminal by Kim Allamand, Switzerland
Piazza Grande Award: Instinct by Halina Reijn, Netherlands

Other awards

Ecumenical Jury Prize: Maternal by Maura Delpero, Italy/Argenti
Special Mention: Vitalina Varela by Pedro Costa, Portugal
FIPRESCI Prize: A Febre by Maya Da-Rin, Brazil/France/Germany
Europa Cinemas Label: Maternal by Maura Delpero, Italy/Argentina

Benjamín Naishtat Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Benjamín Naishtat is going global…

The 32-year-old Argentinian writer and director has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) in all areas.

Born in Buenos Aires, Naishtat is best known for creating experimental and fictional shorts centered on historical and societal complexities. He has made a name for himself on the global film circuit: His first feature, History of Fear played at the Berlin Film Festival, and it won the Best Film Award at the Jeonju International Film Festival.

Additionally, he wrote and directed The Movement, which participated in the Cineasti del Presente section of the Locarno Film Festival.

His most recent film Rojo made its world premiere earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Platform section; it t was also an official selection at the San Sebastián Film Festival where it won the Silver Shell for Best Director.

Bacilio Takes Top Prize at Locarno Film Festival

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Fernando Bacilio is the best of the best…

The Peruvian actor took home the Best Actor prize at the Locarno Film Festival over the weekend in Switzerland.

Bacilio won the award for his critically acclaimed performance in Daniel and Diego Vega’s El Mudo.

Meanwhile, Albert Serra’s latest movie Story of My Death took home the top Pardo d’Oro prize.

The Spanish film is directed by the Spanish flmmaker and imagines the last days of Giacomo Casanova.

Here’s a complete look at this year’s winners:

Concorso internazionale (International competition)

Pardo d’oro  HISTORIA DE LA MEVA MORT by Albert Serra, Spain/France

Premio speciale della giuria (Jury Prize) E AGORA? LEMBRA-ME by Joaquim Pinto, Portugal

Pardo per la miglior regia (Best Director) HONG SANGSOO for U RI SUNHI (Our Sunhi), South Korea

Pardo per la miglior interpretazione femminile (Best Actress) BRIE LARSON for SHORT TERM 12 by Destin Cretton, United States

Pardo per la miglior interpretazione maschile (Best Actor) FERNANDO BACILIO for EL MUDO by Daniel Vega and Diego Vega, Peru/France/Mexico

Special Mentions SHORT TERM 12 by Destin Cretton, United States TABLEAU NOIR by Yves Yersin, Switzerland

Concorso Cineasti del presente (Filmmakers of the present)

Pardo d’oro Cineasti del presente – Premio George Foundation MANAKAMANA by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez, Nepal/United States

Pardo per il miglior regista emergente (Best Emerging Director) COSTA DA MORTE by Lois Patiño, Spain

Premio speciale della giuria Ciné+ Cineasti del presente (Jury Prize) MOUTON by Gilles Deroo and Marianne Pistone, France

Special Mention SAI NAM TID SHOER (By the River) by Nontawat Numbenchapol, Thailand

Opera Prima (Best First Feature) Pardo per la migliore opera prima MOUTON by Gilles Deroo and Marianne Pistone, France

Special Mention MANAKAMANA by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez, Nepal/United States

Pardi di Domani Concorso internazionale:

Pardino d’oro per il miglior cortometraggio internazionale – Premio SRG SSR (Best International Short Film) LA STRADA DI RAFFAEL by Alessandro Falco, Italy/Spain

Pardino d’argento ZIMA by Cristina Picchi, Russia

Locarno Nomination for the European Film Awards ZIMA by Cristina Picchi, Russia

Film and Video Untertitelung Prize TADPOLES by Ivan Tan, Singapore

Special Mention ENDORPHIN by Reza Gamini, Iran

Concorso nazionale: Pardino d’oro for Best Swiss Short Film ‘A IUCATA by Michele Pennetta, Switzerland

Pardino d’argento VIGIA by Marcel Barelli, Switzerland/France

Premio Action Light for Best Swiss Newcomer LA FILLE AUX FEUILLES by Marina Rosset, Switzerland

Prix du Public UBS GABRIELLE by Louise Archambault, Canada

Variety Piazza Grande Award 2 GUNS by Baltasar Kormákur, United States

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Locarno Film Festival