German filmmakers have a good chance of winning an award at the halfway point of the Locarno Film Festival. The awards will be presented on the Swiss shore of Lake Maggiore on Saturday evening (17 August). A total of 17 films are competing for the Golden Leopard, the main prize. The German actress Maren Eggert (“I’m Your Man”) is currently the favourite to win the award for best acting.
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Multi-faceted character study by Maren Eggert
Maren Eggert shines in the family drama “The Sparrow in the Chimney” by Swiss director Ramon Zürcher. She captivates with a multifaceted character study. The subtlety of her portrayal contributes significantly to the story of a wife and mother’s search for meaning becoming a mirror of a society in which women still suffer from the consequences of patriarchy.
It is also conceivable that Maren Eggert will be honored as an acting team with her most important partners in this film, her German colleagues Luise Heyer and Britta Hammelstein.
Helena Zengel plays with great sensitivity
But the competition is fierce. The strongest other film so far also comes from Germany: Helena Zengel (“Systemsprenger”) captivates in the international co-production “Transamazonia” by German director Pia Marais. She plays a 16-year-old who gets caught between the murderous fronts of environmental protection and greed for profit in the jungle of the Amazon region.
Helena Zengel, even as young as Rebecca, whom she portrays, acts with extraordinary sensitivity and magically captivates the audience.
So far, the greatest attention in Locarno has clearly been directed at women. In the first half of the festival, films with female protagonists predominated. Only two exceptions stood out: Firstly, the international co-production “Bogancloch” by British director Ben Rivers, a film essay about a hermit, which was co-produced by German producers, received great attention.
The Italian-French love drama “Sulla terra leggeri” (international distribution title: “Weightless”) by Italian director Sara Fgaier, an emotionally charged love story, also received much applause.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan delighted
The glamorous highlight of the festival so far was the awarding of an honorary prize to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan under the sparkling starry sky. More than 8,000 visitors celebrated the actor and director, who is revered as “King Khan” far beyond his native India, on the Piazza Grande, the market square of the picturesque holiday resort that was transformed into one of the largest cinemas in the world for the festival.
The cheers of the crowds confirmed Shah Rukh Khan’s thesis that cinema makes many people’s lives more beautiful.
The most important European film festival alongside Cannes, Berlin and Venice will be showing 225 short, feature and documentary films until August 17. It is already clear that this year’s 77th edition will live up to its good reputation as the most important platform for discovering largely unknown talents and films that deviate from conventional narrative patterns.
German filmmakers have a good chance of winning an award at the halfway point of the Locarno Film Festival. The awards will be presented on the Swiss shore of Lake Maggiore on Saturday evening (17 August). A total of 17 films are competing for the Golden Leopard, the main prize. The German actress Maren Eggert (“I’m Your Man”) is currently the favourite to win the award for best acting.
Maren Eggert shines in the family drama “The Sparrow in the Chimney” by Swiss director Ramon Zürcher. She captivates with a multifaceted character study. The subtlety of her portrayal contributes significantly to the story of a wife and mother’s search for meaning becoming a mirror of a society in which women still suffer from the consequences of patriarchy.
