Rich and famous (1981) – George Cukor. Collection Cinémathèque suisse. Droits réservés.
Several different guests and initiatives comprise the tribute paid to the big Retrospective for 2013, dedicated to the master of Hollywood comedy George Cukor. British actress Jacqueline Bisset will be a guest of honor, and will introduce the Piazza Grande screening of Rich and Famous (1981), the final film in the director’s long career. Anna Karina will also be a guest of the Festival, and will introduce Cukor’s Justine (1969). The 2013 Retrospective is also organized, this year for the first time, in collaboration with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and is supported by the Swiss Post.
Jacqueline Bisset will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award - Parmigiani on Sunday 11 August on the Piazza Grande, before the screening of a new print of Cukor’s Rich and Famous. In honor of Jacqueline Bisset the Festival will also screen John Huston’s Under the Volcano (1984), and the actress will take part in an open conversation with the Locarno audience.
Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian comments, "I feel greatly honored to welcome one of cinema’s great talents to Locarno. Jacqueline Bisset is not only an extraordinary actress by virtue of her performances in the roles she has played, but is also a cinema icon, combining grace with beauty, reminding us how effective nuance is in creating a character. Over the course of her still active career she has managed to bring a personal touch to the characters she has portrayed, upholding a sense of femininity that does not exclude seduction but elevates it to another level. Her attendance is also the best way to remember George Cukor to whom Locarno is devoting its big retrospective".
Another major film name will be in Locarno to pay tribute to Cukor’s cinema: Anna Karina, actress, screenwriter, director, musician and producer, will introduce the screening of Justine, Cukor’s 1969 film. The Festival will also dedicate a homage to Anna Karina by showing Jean-Luc Godard’s Bande à part – selected for Competition at Locarno in 1964 –, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Stranger (1967) and Pierre Koralnik’s Anna (1967), the latter being followed by a Q&A with the actress.
The Festival will present Cukor’s entire body of work, including My Fair Lady, the film for which he won an Oscar in 1965, and showing the best prints available. The screenings will be accompanied by discussions on George Cukor’s cinema led by filmmakers, actors and critics invited to Locarno for the occasion. The Festival audience will have an opportunity to attend a round-table on the director’s work on Sunday 11 August, chaired by the retrospective’s curator Roberto Turigliatto and with, among others, Miguel Marías, Jean Douchet, Chris Fujiwara and Bernard Eisenschitz. For the occasion, and in collaboration with the Locarno Festival, Capricci will publish George Cukor On/Off Hollywood. This critical anthology, in English and French, contains analyses of the films and biographical material, and is coordinated by film critic Fernando Ganzo.
The 2013 Retrospective is organized in collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse and Turin’s National Cinema Museum, where it will be repeated in autumn. The Festival is also, for the first time, embarking on collaboration with the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, where the program will be presented in December. The Retrospective is also organized in partnership with TCM Cinéma.
The 2013 Retrospective is supported by the Swiss Post.
The complete program for the 66th Festival del film Locarno (7-17 August 2013) will be announced at the press conference to be held on Wednesday 17 July.
