Locarno79: 233 films, international guests and 36 Swiss titles

The Locarno Film Festival is preparing to open its 79th edition on Wednesday. The event, founded in 1946, is offering 233 films this year and will close on 16 August.

According to the guide prepared by Keystone-ATS, among the guests expected on the shores of Lake Maggiore there are well-known names from cinema. Isabella Rossellini will receive the Excellence Award during the opening night. On Thursday she will also take part in a meeting with the public at the Forum @Spazio Cinema at 10:30. Later that evening in Piazza Grande, there will be a screening of “Cuore selvaggio” by David Lynch.

Asia Argento will receive the Life Achievement Award on 13 August. In Piazza Grande she will be seen on Thursday in “Armony” by Dario Albertini. On 14 August a public conversation is scheduled at the Forum @Spazio Cinema at 10:30.

James Gray will receive the Pardo alla Carriera on Sunday in Piazza Grande. On the same occasion he will present “Paper Tiger”, a film that moved from the Cannes Film Festival in May. On Monday at 13:30 he will meet the public at the Forum @Spazio Cinema.

Monica Bellucci is also announced, in the cast of “Ketticè” by Giovanni Tortorici, and Zoe Saldana. Saldana will take part in a conversation at the Forum @Spazio Cinema on 10 August at 11:45, when she will be awarded a special Pardo.

Selection, retrospective and events

One theme that runs through many selected films is the family. In the International Competition, “Brave new love” by Danish director Maria Bäck is competing for the Pardo d’Oro. Also in competition is “Nun dul dega eomne (Nowhere to lay my eyes)” by Hong Sangsoo, who already won the Pardo d’Oro in Locarno in 2015 with “Right now, wrong then”.

In Piazza Grande, the Swiss premiere is planned for “The Invite”, the new film by and starring Olivia Wilde. Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro has called it “uno dei successi cinematografici del prossimo autunno” (“one of the cinematic successes of next autumn”).

For those looking for classics, at midnight in Piazza Grande the programme includes “Wild at heart” by David Lynch, “Dances with Wolves” by Kevin Costner in the fully restored four-hour version, and “Taxi Driver” by Martin Scorsese, shown on the occasion of the film’s fiftieth anniversary.

The Locarno79 retrospective is dedicated to the blacklist and the Hollywood left during McCarthyism. In this section it will also be possible to see works by Charlie Chaplin and Martin Ritt.

There are 36 Swiss films, including 8 co-productions. In Piazza Grande, a screening is expected of “Frank & Louis”, the first English-language film by Aargau director Petra Volpe, presented at the Sundance Film Festival. In the International Competition, Basil Da Cunha is also in the running for the Pardo d’Oro with “O Jacaré”. Out of competition, in a world premiere, the four-episode documentary series “Der Engelmacher” by Marina Klauser will be presented.

Alongside cinema, the festival offers concerts at the Rotonda. The artists mentioned include Enrico Ruggeri, 77 Bombay Street, Ticino artist Sebalter and Soleroy. On the margins of the festival, two exhibitions are also noted, between the Museo Casorella and the Museo Casa Rusca, open from 6 August to 10 January 2027.