Editor

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

A journey of exploration through countries, continents, epochs, states of mind,
approaches to filmmaking, ideologies, conflicts, realities: the Locarno
International Competition will be taking festivalgoers on the whole trip. From
France to Vietnam, from Kazakhstan to Belgium, from South Africa to India,
from the USA to Japan, the program was selected from hundreds of entries.
We chose the titles which had most to say about the tumultuous upheaval of
the world today – and the most pertinent, impertinent and interesting ways of
saying it.

The selection was guided not only by our established values, but by curiosity
and the determination to find the new voices and filmmakers of the future. it
was only once we’d made our choice that we discovered – as if by chance –
that the films selected for the International Competition come from seventeen
different countries, speak twenty-one different languages, take highly
divergent cinematic approaches, but almost all share a commitment to
attempting to understand the present, the rationale and the non-rationale of
the unbalanced world in which we live. A world in which “private follies”, as
one film title puts it, are just one facet of a more general, collective folly, not
always amusing and often tragic.
Irene Bignardi

The Jury of the International Competition
René Burri – Photographer - Switzerland
Sabiha Sumar – Director - Pakistan
Udo Kier – Director - Germany
Olivier Assayas – Director, actor and screenplayer - France
Yu Lik-Wai – Director – Hong Kong
Tilde Corsi - Producer – Italy
David Robinson, Critic, UK
International Competition
Locarno Prize’s in 2004

The Films
ANDRE VALENTE
by Catarina Ruivo – Portugal – 71 min
with Leonardo Viveiros, Rita Durão, Pedro Lacerda, Dmitry Bogomolov
Production: Madragoa filmes
International sales: Gemini films
WORLD PREMIERE – FIRST FEATURE
ANTARES
by Götz Spielmann - Austria - 119 min
with Petra Morzé, Andreas Patton, Hary Prinz, Susanne Wuest, Dennis Cubic,
Martina Zinner, Andreas Kiendl
Production: Lotus-Film GmbH
Int. Sales: Austrian Film Commission
WORLD PREMIERE
www. antares-themovie.com (only from the 1st of August)
International Competition
BLACK FRIDAY
by Anurag Kashyap - India - 161 min
with Kay Kay Menon, Pawan Malhotra and Aditya Srivastava
Production: Mid Day Multimedia Ltd.
WORLD PREMIERE - SECOND FEATURE
www.blackfridaythemovie.com
DASTANEH NATAMAM (Story Undone)
by Hassan Yektapanah – Iran/Ireland/Singapore – 84 min
with Mazdak Taebi, Mehdi Baghayan, Mohamad Assadi
Production: Hassan Yektapanah
Co-production: Lebrocquy Fraser Production Ltd.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE - SECOND FEATURE_
EN GARDE
by Ayse Polat - Germany - 94 min
with Maria Kwiatkowsky , Pinar Erincin, Luk Piyes, Geno Lechner, Antje
Westermann
Production and Int. Sales: X Filme creative pool GmbH
WORLD PREMIERE - SECOND FEATURE
FOLIE PRIVÉE
by Joachim Lafosse - Belgium - 67 min
with Kris Cuppens, Catherine Salee, Vincent Cahay, Mathias Wertz
Production: RYVA Production
Int. sales: La Big Family
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
FORGIVENESS
by Ian Gabriel - South Africa - 112 min
with Arnold Vosloo, Quanita Adams, Denise Newmann
Production: Giant Films
Co-production: DV8 films (Pty) Ltd.
Int. Sales: Fortissimo Films
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
MUOA LEN TRAU (Buffalo Boy)
by Minh Nguyen-Vô – France/Belgium/Vietnam - 96 min
with Le The Lu, Nguyen Thi Kieu Trinh, Nguyen Huu Thanh, Kra Zan Sram
Production: Novak Prod/3B productions/Hang Phim Giai Phong
Int. sales: Flach Pyramide Int.
WORLD PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
MCDULL, PRINCE DE LA BUN
by Toe Yuen - Hong Kong - Animation - 73 min
with the voices of Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Sandra Ng, Jan Lamb, Chet
Lam, the pancakes, At 17
Production: Bliss Picture Ltd.
Int. Sales: Golden Network Asia Ltd.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE - SECOND FEATURE
International Competition
OKHOTNIK (The Hunter)
di Serik Aprymov – Khazakhstan/Japan/France/Switzerland - 90 min
with Kidiraliev Dogdurbek, Zhuasbaev Alibek, Omarova Gulnazid
Production: East Cinema, with the support of the Foundation
MonteCinemaVerità
WORLD PREMIERE
ORDO
by Laurence Ferreira-Barbosa - France/Canada/Portugal - 107 min
with Roschdy Zem, Marie-Josée Croze
Production: Gemini Films
Co-production: Cinemaginaire Inc. /Madragoa filmes
Int. Sales: Gemini Films
WORLD PREMIERE
www.gemini-films.com
POSTER BOY
by Zak Tucker - USA - 104 min
with Mathew Newton, Michael Lerner, Karen Allen, Jack Noseworthy, Valerie
Geffner
Production: Shallow Pictures LLC
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
POURQUOI (PAS) LE BRÉSIL
by Laetitia Masson - France - 92 min
with Elsa Zylberstein, Marc Barbé, Laetitia Masson, Bernard Lecoq, Pierre
Arditi
Production and Int. sales: Rezo Productions
Co-production: Salomé
WORLD PREMIERE
www.rezofilms.com
PRIVATE
by Saverio Costanzo – Italy – 90 min
with Lior Miller, Mohammad Bakri, Tomer Ruso, Arin Omary, Hend Ayoub
Production: Offiside
WORLD PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
PROMISED LAND
by Michael Beltrami - Switzerland/Italy - 99 min
with Chad Smith, Ruth Gerson, Norma Lalaine
Production: Amka Films Productions
Co-production: Orione Cinematografica
Int. Sales: Columbus Film AG
WORLD PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
International Competition
TONY TAKITANI
by Jun Ichikawa - Japan - 75 min
with Ogata Issey, Rie Miyazawa , Hidetoshi Nishijima
Production: Wilco Co. Ltd.
Int. Sales: Celluloid Dreams
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
YASMIN
by Kenny Glenaan - UK/Germany - 87 min
with Archie Panjabi, Renu Setna, Steve Jackson
Production: Parallax Independent
Co-production: EuroArts Medien AG (Germany)
Int. Sales: MovieHouse Entertainment (UK)
WORLD PREMIERE - FIRST FEATURE
WESELE (The Wedding)
by Wojtek Smarzowski - Poland - 109 min
with Marian Dzlêomiej, Iwona Bielska
Production: Grupa Filmowa
Co-production: Polish Television-Tvp S.A/Filmi It/Agencja Produkcji Filmowej
Vendite internazionali: SPI – International Poland
WORLD PREMIERE- SECOND FEATURE