Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival has revealed the lineup for its 75th edition, sticking to its promise of discovering new talent.
A slew of debuting filmmakers will showcase their works, from Italy’s Nicola Prosatore with “Piano Piano” to Caterina Mona, focusing in “Semret” on an Eritrean single mother working at a Zurich hospital and dreaming of becoming a midwife.
Thomas Hardiman’s U.K.’s proposition “Medusa Deluxe,” a murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition — boarded by New Europe Film Sales — is also bound to generate some excitement.
“‘Medusa Deluxe’ is one of the coolest debuts of the year,” the company’s CEO Jan Naszewski enthused to Variety.
“I’m sure it will rock the Piazza Grande and give the festival a great spark.”
But Locarno will also bring in heavyweights, starting with a screening of the much-anticipated Brad Pitt vehicle “Bullet Train,” directed by “Atomic Blond” helmer David Leitch, and Olivia Newman’s “Where the Crawdads Sing” with Daisy Edgar-Jones and David Strathairn.
Anna Gutto’s “Paradise Highway” packs star power as well, starring the likes of Morgan Freeman, “Captain America’s” Frank Grillo and Juliette Binoche, cast as a truck driver forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a prison gang.
In an interview with Variety earlier this year, the French actor described the role as a “worthwhile challenge.”
“I never imagined I’d play a truck driver! I was drawn to incongruity and the prospect of embarking on a new adventure. As an actor it’s exciting not to know if you’ll be able to get back on your feet like a cat after a six-floor fall,” she said.
Among the 17 titles selected for Piazza Grande, 10 celebrate their world premieres, including “Everything About Martin Suter. Everything But the Truth” by André Schäfer, taking on a noted Swiss author; Michele Vannucci’s “Delta,” which Locarno chief Giona A. Nazzaro described as “a film of deep social engagement, rough-edged like the best films of Giuseppe De Santis”; and Sophie Marceau starrer “Un Femme de Notre Temps,” directed by Jean Paul Civeyrac.
Kilian Riedhof’s “You Will Not Have My Hate,” inspired by Antoine Leiris’ famous book, will show the aftermath of Paris’ Bataclan attacks. (Variety)
