Locarno 2018 Preview: The Largest Swiss Film Gathering Readies Smorgasbord of Arthouse Offerings

It has become widely circulated that the current artistic director of Locarno Film Festival, Carlo Chatrian, will be vacating the position and will be moving to artistically helm Berlinale along with Mariette Rissenbeek of German Films. The 71st edition (August 1-11) being his swan song, the expectations regarding the line-up rose. And interesting line-up it is.

After Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude took the top honor at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, his colleague and the director of One Floor Below, Radu Muntean, will unveiled his latest feature Alice T. in the international competition revolving around children-parental relationships with the eponymous protagonist and her strained relationship with adoptive mother.

The prolific Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo will return after introducing Right Now, Wrong Then in Locarno and winning the Golden Leopard, bringing his 23rd offering Hotel by the River, a black and white film depicting "middle-aged man meeting is child and two women by a river".

A significantly demanding film will be introduced by the Argentinean director Mariano Llinás as his project La Flor will bow at Locarno´s screens. The gargantuan offering of 812 minutes entails six stories connected by the same four actresses Pilar Gamboa, Elisa Carricajo, Laur Paredes and Valeria Correa. "The universe of different stories changes radically from one episode to the next, and it is this kind of broad, wildly ranging sweep that we seek," said the director. Other titles in the competition include by A Family Tour Liang Ying, A Land Imagined by Yeo Siew Hua, M by Yolande Zauberman and others. 

The Filmmakers of Present competition will welcome Andrea Bussmann´s Fausto, Nicole Vogele´s Closing Time „a cinematographic meditation on the in-between moments - a kaleidoscopic journey that relies on colours, sensations, animals, typhoons and a dark lilac sky, the materials of life. An attempt at capturing time, an exercise in just seeing," Alles Ist Gut by Eva Trobisch centering on Janne whose new boss´ brother-in-law has raped her, and her silence about the incident will begin to have consequnces, or Turkish Dead Horse Nebula by Tarik Aktas following „a sequence of incidents taking place around a small village. Small offerings of life, one would probably leave unnoticed initiate a thought towards the unity of matter and the living" among others.

The full line-up of 71st Locarno Film Festival:

Piazza Grande

BLACKKKLANSMAN by Spike Lee USA - 2018 - 135'

BLAZE by Ethan Hawke USA - 2017 - 128'

COINCOIN ET LES Z'INHUMAINS by Bruno Dumont France - 2018 - 4x52'

I FEEL GOOD by Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern France - 2018 - 103'

LE VENT TOURNE by Bettina Oberli Switzerland/France - 2018 - 86'

LES BEAUX ESPRITS by Vianney Lebasque France - 2017 - 93'

LIBERTY by Leo McCarey USA - 1929 - 23'

L'ORDRE DES MÉDECINS by David Roux France - 2018 - 93'

L'OSPITE by Duccio Chiarini Italy/Switzerland/France - 2018 - 94'

MAYNILA SA MGA KUKO NG LIWANAG (Manila in the Claws of Light) by Lino Brocka Philippines - 1975 - 126'

PÁJAROS DE VERANO (Birds of Passage) by Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra Colombia - 2018 - 125'

RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR by Milorad Krstic Hungary - 2018 - 94'

SE7EN by David Fincher USA - 1995 - 127' SEARCHING by Aneesh Chaganty USA - 2018 - 101' THE EQUALIZER 2 by Antoine Fuqua USA - 2018 - 121'

UN NEMICO CHE TI VUOLE BENE by Denis Rabaglia Italy/Switzerland - 2018 - 97'

WAS UNS NICHT UMBRINGT by Sandra Nettelbeck Germany - 2018 - 110'

International Competition

A FAMILY TOUR by YING Liang Taiwan/Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia - 2018 - 107'

A LAND IMAGINED by YEO Siew Hua Singapore/France/Netherlands - 2018 - 95'

ALICE T. by Radu Muntean Romania/France/Sweden - 2018 - 105'

DIANE by Kent Jones USA - 2018 - 94'

GANGBYUN HOTEL (Hotel by the River) by HONG Sangsoo South Korea - 2018 - 96'

GENÈSE by Philippe Lesage Canada - 2018 - 130'

GLAUBENBERG by Thomas Imbach Switzerland - 2018 - 115'

LA FLOR by Mariano Llinás Argentina - 2018 - 815'

MENOCCHIO by Alberto Fasulo Italy/Romania - 2018 - 103'

RAY & LIZ by Richard Billingham United Kingdom - 2018 

SIBEL by Çağla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti Turkey/France/Germany/Luxembourg - 2018 - 95' TARDE PARA MORIR JOVEN by Dominga Sotomayor Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar - 2018 - 110'

WINTERMÄRCHEN by Jan Bonny Germany - 2018 - 125'

YARA by Abbas Fahdel Lebanon/Iraq/France - 2018 - 101'

Filmmakers of Present

ALLES IST GUT by Eva Trobisch Germany - 2018 - 93'

CEUX QUI TRAVAILLENT by Antoine Russbach Switzerland/Belgium - 2018 - 102'

CHAOS by Sara Fattahi Austria/Syria/Lebanon/Qatar - 2018 - 100'

CLOSING TIME by Nicole Vögele Switzerland/Germany - 2018 - 116'

FAMILIA SUMERGIDA by María Alché Argentina/Brazil/Germany/Norway - 2018 - 91'

FAUSTO by Andrea Bussmann Mexico/Canada - 2018 -

HATZLILA (The Dive) by Yona Rozenkier Israel - 2018 -

JIAO QU DE NIAO (Suburban Birds) by QIU Sheng China - 2018 - 118'

L'ÉPOQUE by Matthieu Bareyre France - 2018 - 94'

LIKEMEBACK by Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli Italy/Croatia - 2018 - 80'

NEBULA (DEAD HORSE NEBULA) by Tarık Aktaş Turkey - 2018 - 73'

SIYABONGA (We are thankul) by Joshua Magor SouthAfrica/United Kingdom - 2018 - 93'

SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS by Virgil Vernier France - 2018 -

TEGNAP (Hier) by Bálint Kenyeres Hungary/Germany/France/Netherlands/Morocco/Sweden - 2018 - 119'

TEMPORADA (Long way Home) by André Novais Oliveira Brazil - 2018 - 112'

TROTE by Xacio Baño Spain/Lithuania - 2018 - 83'

Pardi di Domani International Competition

3 ANOS DEPOIS by Marco Amaral - Portugal - 2018 - 13'

A COLD SUMMER NIGHT by Yash Sawant - India - 2018 - 21'

D'UN CHÂTEAU L'AUTRE by Emmanuel Marre - Belgium/France - 2018 - 40'

EL LABERINTO by Laura Huertas Millán - France/Colombia/USA - 2018 - 21'

FRASE D'ARME by Federico Di Corato - Italy/France - 2018 - 30'

FUCK YOU by Anette Sidor - Sweden - 2018 - 15'

GRBAVICA by Manel Raga Raga - Portugal/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Spain - 19'

HEART OF HUNGER by Bernardo Zanotta - Netherlands - 2018 - 29'

HI I NEED TO BE LOVED by Marnie Ellen Hertzler - USA - 2018 - 11'

JE SORS ACHETER DES CIGARETTES by Osman Cerfon - France - 2018 - 13'

KAUKAZAS (Caucasus) by Laurynas Bareisa - Lithuania - 2018 - 14'

LA CARTOGRAPHE by Nathan Douglas - Canada - 2018 - 34'

LA MÁXIMA LONGITUD DE UN PUENTE by Simón Vélez - Colombia/Argentina - 2018 - 13' LAST YEAR WHEN THE TRAIN PASSED BY by HUANG Pang-Chuan - France - 2018 - 17' LUNAR-ORBIT RENDEZVOUS by Mélanie Charbonneau - Canada - 2018 - 15'

MALO SE SJEĆAM TOG DANA (I Can Barely Remember the Day) by Leon Lučev - Croatia - 2018 - 21'

MY EXPANDED VIEW by Corey Hughes - USA - 2018 - 8'

OUT by Alon Sahar - Israel - 2018 - 27'

PATUL LUI PROCUST (Bed of Procustes) by Andrian Împărățel - Romania - 2018 - 17' REKONSTRUKCE (Reconstruction) by Jiří Havlíček, Ondřej Novák - Czech Republic - 2017 - 16' RENEEPOPTOSIS by Renee Zhan - USA/Japan - 2018 - 9'

SARAS INTIME BETROELSER (Sara's Intimate Confessions) by Emilie Blichfeldt - Norway - 2018 - 22'

SASHLELI (Eraser) by Davit Pirtskhalava - Georgia - 2018 - 18'

SMERT MENYA (The Death of Father Men) by Mikhail Maksimov - Russia - 2018 - 12'

THE SILENCE OF THE DYING FISH by Vasilis Kekatos - Greece/France - 2018 - 19'

TOURNEUR by Yalda Afsah - Germany - 2018 - 14'

VIOLETA + GUILLERMO by Óscar Vincentelli - Spain/Venezuela - 2018 - 6'

WORDS, PLANETS by Laida Lertxundi - USA/Spain - 2018 - 11'

ZHI SHUO YI CI (Dream Speaking) by CHAN Paine - China - 2018 - 19

National Competition

ABIGAÏL by Magdalena Froger - Switzerland - 2018 - 20'

CIRCUIT by Delia Hess - Switzerland - 2018 - 8'

EVA by Xheni Alushi - Switzerland - 2018 - 15'

FAIT DIVERS by Léon Yersin - Switzerland - 2018 - 17'

HIER by Loïc Kreyden - Switzerland - 2018 - 4'

ICI LE CHEMIN DES ÂNES by Lou Rambert Preiss - Switzerland - 2018 - 22'

IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE FUTURE by Laurence Favre - Switzerland/Germany - 2018 - 8'

LA SOURCE by Yatoni Roy Cantù - Switzerland - 2018 - 16'

LE SENS DE LA MARCHE by Jela Hasler - Switzerland - 2018 - 9'

LES ÎLES DE BRISSOGNE by Juliette Riccaboni - Switzerland - 2018 - 23'

LOS QUE DESEAN by Elena López Riera - Spain/Switzerland - 2018 - 24'

MONTE AMIATA by Tommaso Donati - Switzerland - 2018 - 22'

SELFIES by Claudius Gentinetta - Switzerland - 2018 - 4'

Signs of Life

A ROOM WITH A COCONUT VIEW by Tulapop Saenjaroen Thailand - 2018 - 28'

COMMUNION LOS ANGELES by Adam R. Levine, Peter Bo Rappmund USA - 2018 - 68'

COMO FERNANDO PESSOA SALVOU PORTUGAL by Eugène Green Portugal/France/Belgium - 2018 - 27'

DULCINEA by Luca Ferri Italy - 2018 - 66'

GULYABANI by Gürcan Keltek Netherlands/Turkey - 2018 - 32'

HAI SHANG CHENG SHI (The Fragile House) by LIN Zi China - 2018 - 81'

JING LI DE REN (Man in the Well) by Hu Bo China - 2017 - 16'

LA CASA DE JULIO IGLESIAS by Natalia Marín Spain - 2018 - 12'

LE DISCOURS D'ACCEPTATION GLORIEUX DE NICOLAS CHAUVIN by Benjamin Crotty France - 2018 - 26'

SEDUÇÃO DA CARNE by Júlio Bressane Brazil - 2018 - 70'

SOBRE TUDO SOBRE NADA by Dídio Pestana Portugal - 2018 - 90'

THE GRAND BIZARRE by Jodie Mack USA - 2018 - 60'

TIRSS, RIHLAT ALSOO'OUD ILA ALMAR'I (Erased, Ascent of the Invisible) by Ghassan Halwani Lebanon - 2018 - 74'

VESLEMØY'S SONG by Sofia Bohdanowicz Canada - 2018 - 9' 

Fuori Concorso

AMUR SENZA FIN by Christoph Schaub Switzerland - 2018 - 91'

DE CHAQUE INSTANT by Nicolas Philibert France/Japan - 2018 - 105'

INSULAIRE by Stéphane Goël Switzerland - 2018 - 92'

MUDAR LA PIEL by Ana Schulz, Cristóbal Fernández Spain - 2018 - 89'

MY HOME, IN LYBIA by Martina Melilli Italy - 2018 - 66'

NARCISSISTER ORGAN PLAYER by Narcissister USA - 2017 - 92'

ORA E SEMPRE RIPRENDIAMOCI LA VITA by Silvano Agosti Italy - 2018 - 94'

RŪGŠTUS MIŠKAS (Acid Forest) by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė Lithuania - 2018 - 63'

SEMBRA MIO FIGLIO by Costanza Quatriglio Italy/Croatia/Belgium - 2018 - 103'

THE SENTENCE by Rudy Valdez USA - 2018 - 87'

WALKING ON WATER by Andrey Paounov USA/Italy - 2018 - 100'

Shorts SHORT POLAR COLLECTION CANAL+ / SO FILM 4 "thriller" short films from the Canal+ / So Film genre

À NOUS DEUX ! by Marie Loustalot - France - 2018 - 20'

DIVERSION by Mathieu Mégemont - France - 2018 - 23'

LA BELLE AFFAIRE by Constance Meyer - France - 2018 - 23'

TOMATIC by Christophe Saber - France/Switzerland - 2018 - 20 

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