Switzerland’s most prestigious film festival will be held from August 2-12 in Locarno in southern Switzerland. A total of 17 films, including nine world premieres, will be screened in Piazza Grande, Locarno’s open-air theater that accommodates a nightly audience of up to 8,000 people, the festival organisers revealed at a press conference in Bern on Wednesday. They will be competing for the top prize Pardo d’oro or Golden Leopard.
“Switzerland is represented by Basil Da Cunha, one of the most original voices, protagonist of the renewal of Swiss cinema,” said a press release.
British actor Riz Ahmed will receive the Excellence Award Davide Campari 2023 and Italian producer Renzo Rossellini will get the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hollywood heavyweights are conspicuous by their absence in this edition of the festival. Cate Blanchett will be there as executive producer for the European launch of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s film Shayda starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi who won best actress at Cannes last year. Ken Loach will also be there for the screening of his latest film The Old Oak.
A retrospective on Mexican film “Espectáculo a diario – Las distintas temporadas del cine popular mexicano” (“Spectacle Every Day – The Many Seasons of Mexican Popular Cinema”) will showcase Mexican filmmaking from the 1940s to the end of the 1960s.
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