The leopard, who has been scurrying across the screen from left to right in front of every projection for more than 15 years and roaring grudgingly before leaving, could of course not be missing this year either. But this was not followed by a festival trailer, just three words – black on yellow – appeared: “Cinema is back”.
Unlike last year, this year’s Locarno Film Festival did not take place as a hybrid event, but in the open-air cinema on the Piazza Grande and in the venues on Lake Maggiore. Even if noticeably fewer visitors were counted compared to pre-pandemic times, because there was no international crowd and it was generally very quiet in the city because the club and bar are still idle, Locarno is well on the way to a future with cinema.
Last year without an audience, this year with: Unique atmosphere on the Piazza Grande
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The winners of the Golden Leopard
17 feature films from all over the world took part in the “Concorso internazionale”, the competition for the Golden Leopard. The main prize this year went to the social study “Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” from Indonesia, which was co-produced by German donors (“Revenge is mine, all others pay cash”). The 43-year-old Indonesian director Edwin (“The Night of the Giraffe”) reflects on the recent violent history of his home country.
The political satire “Nebesa” (“Appearances are deceiving”) by the Serbian director Srđan Dragojević (“Parade”), which was co-realized by German producers, was also highly regarded. With black humor, the film uses the story of a refugee family to investigate the question of whether traditional Christian values still exist today. The film, which spans the period from the 1990s to the near future, is due to be released in German cinemas in autumn under the title “The appearance is deceptive”.
Love story with zoo animals
Lorenz Merz’s “Soul of a Beast” also had a good chance of winning. In it, the young Gabriel falls in love with the new girlfriend of his best friend Joel. The love story mixes with a story about animals that have escaped from the zoo, including a giraffe and a panther, which make the city unsafe; at the same time it is about the role that drugs play in young people’s lives.
The prize for the best director in the main competition goes to the American Abel Ferrara (“Bad Lieutenant”) for the political thriller “Zeros and Ones”. The special prize of the jury of the main competition goes to the history painting “A New Old Play” by the Chinese visual artist and director Qi Jiongjiong. In the main competition, the Russian Anastasiya Krasovskaya was honored as the best actress in the “Gerda” milieu study by director Natalya Kudryashova from Russia. Mohamed Mellali and Valero Escolar are jointly honored as best actors in the working-class comedy “Sis dies corrents” (“The Odd-Job Men”) by the Spanish film director Neus Ballús (“The Plague”).
The coveted trophy: the golden leopard
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Much applause for German cinema
In the second important competition, “Contemporary Filmmakers”, which is reserved for young talent, Germany was able to record a great success: Saskia Rosendahl (“Fabian or going to the dogs”) received the award for best actress. In the novel “Nobody is with the calves” by the German-Iranian author and director Sabrina Sarabi, she embodies a young woman who struggles with life in the country.
The youth drama “Soul of a Beast”, co-financed by German producers, also received a lot of approval. The Swiss author and director Lorenz Merz tells impressively in energetic pictures of the desperate search of some teenagers for the meaning of life. The Swiss actress Luna Wedler (“Auerhaus”, “Je suis Karl”), who is already very successful in many German films, shines in one of the leading roles.
Honorary award for the legendary director John Landis
He made films like “Blues Brothers”, “I think I’ll be kicked by a horse” or the video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”: legendary director John Landis received the “Pardo d’onore Manor”, an honorary leopard. He sees himself as a representative of old Hollywood. Before the awards ceremony in Locarno, he said: “The fact that people watch films on their iPhones breaks my heart.” This and too many computer images, according to Landis, destroy the “feeling of wonder”, which for him is the unique thing about cinema.
At the open-air gala in front of several thousand spectators on the Piazza Grande of the tourist resort, Landis seemed visibly touched: “I am happy that seven or eight of my films that I made years ago are still popular today.”
The honorary award goes to US director John Landis
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Environment, youth and classic films
In Locarno, the organizers decided not only to talk about films this year, but also about the environment. The world premiere of “Yaya e Lennie – The Walking Liberty” offers the opportunity to do so. The animated film by Italian director Alessandro Rak tells of an apocalyptic future: nature has recaptured the world and people are trying to create a new order.
For the first time this year, the Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare was presented to filmmakers who introduce the younger audience to the cinema. This is intended to give children and young people a special place in the festival audience. The first prize winner is the Japanese animation film director Mamoru Hosoda. His new film “Belle” is about the influence of social networks on the younger generation and premiered on August 9th.
Older films were also shown on the Piazza Grande, including the classic thriller “Heat” with Robert de Niro (award for cinematographer Dante Spinotti) and the science fiction hit “Terminator” (award for producer Gale Anne Hurd).
In a new role: For Giona A. Nazzaro it was the first year as festival director
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Premiere for the new head
The 74th edition of the Locarno Film Festival from August 4th to 14th was the first of the new festival director Giona A. Nazzaro. The Italian officially took over the artistic direction at the turn of the year after the French Lili Hinstin resigned after only two years. Nazzaro has directed the Critics’ Week of the Venice International Film Festival since 2016 and has been a presenter in Locarno since 2009. The new director wants to continue the tradition of the festival for auteur films. He takes over the film festival in a difficult time for the cinema: In addition to Corona, the structural change caused by competition from streaming services is causing problems.
How much the cinema is changing and streaming is on the advance was made clear by the opening film: Netflix holds the rights to the thriller “Beckett”, where the film will be available before the festival ends – previously an impossibility. “Beckett” tells of an American who is hunted after an accident while on vacation in Greece. The main character embodies John David Washington. Oscar winner Denzel Washington’s son has starred in Spike Lee’s Oscar-winning “BlacKkKlansman” and Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet”.
rbr/jj (dpa, kna)
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