The Locarno Film Festival unveils the 2023 lineup

The Locarno International Film Festival unveiled its full 2023 program on Wednesday, with dozens of world premieres screened at the 76th edition of the Swiss festival.

Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include many of this season’s festival favorites, including the Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a fall by French director Justine Triet with Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and perhaps last) feature film, The Old Oak; Sundance Audience Award Winner by Noora Niasari The thingcharacterized Holy Spider protagonist Czar Amir Ebrahimi; and the Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman comedy Theatrical field, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. Other highlights include the US horror film Falling stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Give me from 71′ AND White boy Rick-Helmer Yann Demange; AND Magnetic Continentthe new nature documentary by March of the Penguins‘ director Luc Jacquet on the continent of Antarctica.

In its International Competition of Films from Emerging Film Nations section, the Lorcarno 2023 line-up will include the Romanian sardonic drama Don’t expect too much from the end of the world by Radu JudeBad Luck Banging or Loony Porn), the comedy Yanik by the French avant-garde Quentin Dupieux (Reality, Smoking causes coughing), AND Essential truths of the lakeFilipino art house star Lav Diaz’s latest slice of edgy surrealism (The woman who left, Season of the devil).

Eight of the 15 films in the Concorso Cineasti del presente in Locarno, including first and second works, are by female directors. Among them is erotic comedy Travelling by Spanish directors Maria Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro, the French philosophical drama by Eleonore Saintagnan Camping du Lac AND Family portrait by American director Lucy Kerr.

Academy Award-nominated British actor Riz Ahmed (Metal sound), will be awarded this year with the Davide Campari Locarno’s Excellence Award. Ahmed will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on the opening night of the festival, 2 August. The festival will also screen Bassam Tariq’s 2020 feature film Mogul Mowgliin which Ahmed is the protagonist and co-producer.

Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro defined the star of The road to Guantanamo, Four lions AND Rouge One: A Star Wars Story “a brilliant and versatile talent in today’s cinema. Chameleonic, he can go from blockbusters to arthouse films, at ease both on stage and on television, rapping into a microphone or stepping in as executive producer… he is the embodiment of a cinema that is becoming better, more receptive, finally able to hear new voices. Riz Ahmed is the face of a future that finally becomes possible”.

The Locarno International Film Festival 2023 will take place from 2 to 12 August. Below is the main program of the festival’s feature film competition:

Piazza Grande Program

Anatomy of a falldirector: Justine Triet
Magnetic Continentdirector: Luc Jacquet
Guardians of the Formuladirector: Dragan Bjelogrlic
Give medirector: Yann Mounir Demange
Falling starsdirectors: Richard Karpala, Gabriel Bienczycki
The shooting stardirectors: Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel
The Beautiful Summerdirector: Laura Luchetti
City of women (1980), director: Federico Fellini
Dove (1974) director: Daniel Schmid
The Royal Waydirector: Frederic Mermoud
Smugglersdirector: RYOO Seung-wan
The tragedy of Othello by W. Shakespearedirector: Edoardo Leo
First dealdirector: Victoria Musiedlak
The thingdirector: Noora Niasari
The Old OakDirector: Ken Loach
Theatrical campdirectors: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman

International Competition Program

Animaldirector: Sofia Exarchou
Homedirector: Leonor Teles
The rise of the human 3director: Eduardo Williams
Essential truths of the lakedirector: Lav Diaz
The permanent imagedirector: Laura Ferres
Crappy Carterdirector: Bob Byington
Sleeve of Earthdirector: Basil Da Cunha
Critical Zonedirector: Ali Ahmadzadeh
The invisible fightdirector: Rainer Sarnet
Don’t expect too much from the end of the worlddirector: Radu Jude
Dark Night – See you here, everywhereDirector: Sylvain George
Patagoniadirector: Simone Bozzelli
Hope Reddirector: Annarita Zambrano
Stepnedirector: Maryna Vroda
Sweet dreamsdirector: Ena Sendijarevic
The missing soldierdirector: Dani Rosenberg
Yannickdirector: Quentin Dupieux

Competition Filmmakers of the Present Program

Camping du Lacdirector: Eléonore Saintagnan
A beautiful placedirector: Katharina Huber
excursiondirector: At Gunjak
Family portraitdirector: Lucy Kerr
Dream and diedirector: Nelson Yeo
The bitedirector: Romain de Saint-Blanquat
Close to winterdirector: Negu Collective
Travellingdirectors: María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro
Kidnappingdirector: Dominic Sangma
Riverdirector: Hugues Hariche
all firesdirector: Mauricio Calderón Rico
Toucheddirector: Claudia Rorarius
And that one can live without deceptiondirector: Katharina Lüdin
Whispers of fire and waterdirector: Lubdhak Chatterjee
West borderdirector: Yan Luo