Locarno FF: The Leopard In August

DEEP IN THE WOODS (Benoit Jacquot, France)

While most of Europe is on vacation and the film business is enjoying a brief pause in its frenetic pace, the action is strong and the movies are fierce at the Locarno Film Festival, the esteemed film event taking place this week in the beautiiful mountain city in southern Switzerland.

The Festival, celebrating its 63rd year as one of the world's oldest and most respected, is the first for newly installed Artistic Director Olivier Père. Festivities kicked off on August 4 with the traditional opening cocktail reception in the cloister of Locarno’s Magistrale, in the presence of the President of the Swiss Confederation,
representatives of Swiss and Swiss-Italian cultural and political
institutions, members of the official juries and an international who's who of directors,
actors and film professionals.

The Festival opened with an open air screening in the Piazza Grande of the world premiere of DEEP IN THE WOODS (Au fond des bois) by French director Benoit Jacquot, who was present. For the special occasion Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter prepared a
visual performance on the walls of Locarno’s castle, using the theme of
the leopard, the symbol of the Festival.

Locarno’s 2010 edition includes 280 titles, programmed in 11 sections. Besides the two feature competitions – the Concorso internazionale (International Competition) and Concorso Cineasti del presente (Filmmakers of the Present Competition) – the selection comprises, among others, an Ernst Lubitsch retrospective; a series of shorts celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Pardi di domani section (Leopards of Tomorrow); special screenings to mark the Locarno special prizes for Chiara Mastroianni, Jia Zhang-ke, Alain Tanner, Menahem Golan and Francesco Rosi; a tribute to US actor John C. Reilly and French artist Philippe Parreno;
a special Central Asian program within the Open Doors co-production
laboratory; and a program of professional discussions and round tables.

Among the film celebrities in attendance are Bruce LaBruce, François Sagat, Valeria Golino, Riccardo Scamarcio, Eran Riklis, Louis Garrel, Christophe Honoré, Jeanne Balibar, Luca Guadagnino, Alba Rohrwacher, Matt Smith, Jay Duplass, Benoit Magimel, Cédric Anger, Garri Bardine, Quentin Dupieux, Eric Caravaca, Gilbert Melki, Eric Khoo, Melvil Poupaud, Lionel Baier, Golshifteh Farahani, Maren Ade, Joshua Safdie, Eduardo Antin, Anita Caprioli, Joachim Lafosse, Thom Andersen, Lisandro Alonso, Sylvie Pialat, Nina Meurisse, Miguel Gomes, Corneliu Porumboiu, Ulrich Thomsen, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Burghart Klaussner, Katrin Sass, Sebastian Blomberg, Jacqueline Veuve, Manuel Loewensberger, Christian Frei, Paul Riniker, Sabine Timoteo, Roeland Wiesnekker, Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Anna Thalbach, Jean-Luc Bideau.


The 63rd edition continues through Saturday, 14
August. For more information, visit the official website www.pardo.ch.

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor