Locarno 2023 Preview: Latest Films from Diaz, Jude, Dupieux, Mandico to Bow at Swiss Film Gathering

Steeped in prestige and tradition, the 76th edition of Locarno Film Festival of 2023 unveiled an intriguing lineup that mirrors the multifaceted spirit of world cinema.

The festival's heart, the Concorso internazionale, promises an extraordinary amalgamation of the old and the new. This year's roster of films, primarily world premieres, competes for the esteemed Pardo d’oro. The event celebrates a union of renowned auteurs and burgeoning filmmakers.

The Concorso internazionale welcomes a diverse range of voices, including French pop-surrealist Quentin Dupieux with Yannick, a ferocious comedy described as his most mature film, Lav Diaz's maximalist storytelling in 215-minute long Essential Truths of the Lake, and Radu Jude's 163-minute-long social satire Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World.

Concorso Cineasti del presente, another critical component of the festival, introduces emerging filmmakers. This segment celebrates debut and sophomore feature films from emerging international talents. These offerings go beyond traditional boundaries of genres and forms, forging new paths in creative expression.

The roster sparkles with the entire spectrum of cinematic themes, from audacious erotic comedies such as On the Go, through dreamlike ruminations on life and death like Dreaming and Dying, to eerie thrillers like West Border.

Locarno's iconic Piazza Grande, boasting one of the largest screens globally and a capacity for 8,000 viewers, will showcase the festival's highly anticipated international productions. This year's offerings promise a blend of entertainment, evocative narratives, and immersive experiences, featuring a mixture of fresh releases, tributes to honorees, rejuvenated masterpieces, and cross-genre explorations.

Classic cinema experiences a rebirth with the restoration of Daniel Schmid's La Paloma (1974) and Federico Fellini's La città delle donne (1980). Contemporary cinema too takes the limelight with this year´s Palme d´Or winner Anatomy of Fall and Ken Loach's The Old Oak. The abstract thriller Falling Stars by Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki deserves special recognition, already pegged as a potential cult classic.

This year's selection includes a barbarian trilogy from the French provocateur Bertrand Mandico with transgressive gender-flipped Connan the Barbarian, Connan, and short films Nous les Barbares and Rainer, a Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley. A new film from Canadian auteur Denis Côté, Mademoiselle Kenopsia, follows a protagonist obsessed with watching over anonymous interiors and occupying them. At the festival will be present Estonian discovery Rainer Sarnet of November, who will introduce The Invisible Fight, a kung-fu comedy from an Orthodox monastery in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

Concorso internazionale

ANIMAL by Sofia Exarchou

Greece/Austria/Romania/Cyprus/Bulgaria – 2023

World premiere

BAAN by Leonor Teles

Portugal – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

EL AUGE DEL HUMANO 3 by Eduardo Williams

Argentina/Portugal/Netherlands/Taiwan/Brazil/Hong Kong/Sri Lanka/ Peru – 2023

World premiere

ESSENTIAL TRUTHS OF THE LAKE by Lav Diaz

Philippines/France/Portugal/Singapore/Italy/Switzerland/United- Kingdom – 2023

World premiere

THE PERMANENT PICTURE by Laura Ferrés

Spain/France – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

LOUSY CARTER by Bob Byington

USA – 2023

World premiere

MANGA D’TERRA by Basil Da Cunha

Switzerland/Portugal – 2023

World premiere

CRITICAL ZONE by Ali Ahmadzadeh

Iran/Germany – 2023

World premiere

THE INVISIBLE FIGHT by Rainer Sarnet

Estonia/Latvia/Greece/Finland – 2023

World premiere

DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH OF THE END OF THE WORLD by Radu Jude

Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia – 2023

World premiere

NUIT OBSCURE - AU REVOIR ICI, N’IMPORTE OÙ by Sylvain George

France/Switzerland – 2023

World premiere

PATAGONIA by Simone Bozzelli

Italy – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

ROSSOSPERANZA by Annarita Zambrano

Italy/France – 2023

World premiere

STEPNE by Maryna Vroda

Ukraine/Germany/Poland/Slovakia – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

SWEET DREAMS by Ena Sendijarević

Netherlands/Sweden/Indonesia/Réunion – 2023

World premiere

THE VANISHING SOLDIER by Dani Rosenberg

Israel – 2023

World premiere

YANNICK by Quentin Dupieux

France – 2023

International premiere

Concorso Cineasti del presente

CAMPING DU LAC by Eléonore Saintagnan

Belgium/France – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

EIN SCHÖNER ORT by Katharina Huber

Germany – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

EXCURSION by Una Gunjak

Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/ Serbia/France/Norway/Qatar – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

FAMILY PORTRAIT by Lucy Kerr

USA – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

DREAMING & DYING by Nelson Yeo

Singapore/Indonesia – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

LA MORSURE by Romain de Saint-Blanquat

France – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

NEGU HURBILAK by Colectivo Negu

Spain – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

ON THE GO by María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro

Spain – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

RAPTURE by Dominic Sangma

India/China/Switzerland/Netherlands/Qatar – 2023

World premiere

RIVIÈRE by Hugues Hariche

Switzerland/France – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

Piazza Grande

ANATOMIE D’UNE CHUTE by Justine Triet

France – 2023

Swiss premiere

CONTINENT MAGNÉTIQUE by Luc Jacquet

France – 2023

World premiere

GUARDIANS OF THE FORMULA by Dragan Bjelogrlić

Serbia/Slovenia/Montenegro/North Macedonia – 2023

World premiere

DAMMI by Yann Mounir Demange

France – 2023

World premiere

FALLING STARS by Richard Karpala, Gabriel Bienczycki

USA – 2023

World premiere, First Feature

L’ÉTOILE FILANTE by Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel

France/Belgium – 2023

World premiere

LA BELLA ESTATE by Laura Luchetti

Italy – 2023

World premiere

LA CITTÀ DELLE DONNE by Federico Fellini

Italy/France – 1980

LA PALOMA by Daniel Schmid

Switzerland/France – 1974

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