Hong Sang-Soo, Wang Bing Debut New Works, Laurent & Canet to Be Honored

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival will debut 17 world premieres, featuring new works by renowned directors Hong Sang-soo and Wang Bing, as part of its 2024 competition program. The festival is set to run from August 7 to August 17.

One of the highlights includes Hong Sang-soo’s film “Suyoocheon (By The Stream)”, starring Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo, and Cho Yunhee. Wang Bing’s “Hard Times” is another notable entry, a co-production between France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

The festival will also honor French actors Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet with the Excellence Award Davide Campari. This accolade will be presented during the opening ceremony on August 7. Previous recipients of this prestigious award include Riz Ahmed and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

The Piazza Grande lineup features 18 titles, including “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” by Mohammad Rasoulof, “Savages” by Claude Barras, and Steven Spielberg’s classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”

Locarno Film Festival director Giona A. Nazzaro has described this year’s competition lineup as “ambitious” and “consciously, critically” engaged, emphasizing the films’ intent to spark dialogues with audiences on contemporary issues.

The competition includes a diverse array of directors, from established names like Hong Sang-soo, Wang Bing, Ben Rivers, Pia Marais, Silvia Luzi, and Luca Bellino, to new talents such as Ala Eddine Slim and Kurdwin Ayub. Other notable entries come from Mar Coll, Sara Fgaier, Marta Mateus, and Virgil Vernier.

Among the featured films in the Piazza Grande Program are:

– “E.T. L’EXTRA-TERRESTRE” by Steven Spielberg, USA, 1982 (Prefestival)
– “FIORE MIO” by Paolo Cognetti, Italy, Belgium, 2024 (Prefestival)
– “LE DÉLUGE” by Gianluca Jodice, Italy, France, 2024, (Opening Ceremony with Excellence Award Davide Campari to Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet)
– “REINAS” by Klaudia Reynicke, Switzerland, Peru, Spain, 2024
– “THE FALL (RESTORED CUT)” by Tarsem, South Africa, India, United Kingdom, 2024 (Raimondo Rezzonico Award to Stacey Sher)
– “ELECTRIC CHILD” by Simon Jaquemet, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Philippines, 2024
– “UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME” by Jean-Luc Godard, France, Italy, 1961 (Leopard Club Award to Irène Jacob)
– “MEXICO 86” by César Díaz, Belgium, France, 2024
– “SEW TORN” by Freddy Macdonald, USA, Switzerland, 2024 (Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism to Shah Rukh Khan)
– “THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG” by Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, Germany, France, 2024
– “THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI” by Orson Welles, USA, 1947
– “SHAMBHALA” by Min Bahadur Bham, Nepal, France, Norway, Türkiye, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA, Qatar, 2024 (Open Doors Presentation)
– “SAUVAGES” by Claude Barras, Switzerland, France, Belgium, 2024 (Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare to Claude Barras)
– “GAUCHO GAUCHO” by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, USA, Argentina, 2024 (Vision Award Ticinomoda to Ben Burtt)
– “TIMESTALKER” by Alice Lowe, United Kingdom, 2024
– “RITA” by Paz Vega, Spain, 2024
– “THE PIANO” by Jane Campion, Australia, New Zealand, France, 1993 (Pardo d’Onore Manor to Jane Campion)
– “LE PROCÈS DU CHIEN” by Laetitia Dosch, Switzerland, France, 2024 (Closing Ceremony)

The Concorso Internazionale (International Competition) includes the following:

– “AGORA” by Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, 2024
– “AKIPLĖŠA (TOXIC)” by Saulė Bliuvaitė, Lithuania, 2024
– “BOGANCLOCH” by Ben Rivers, United Kingdom, Germany, Iceland, 2024
– “CENT MILLE MILLIARDS” by Virgil Vernier, France, 2024
– “DER SPATZ IM KAMIN” by Ramon Zürcher, Switzerland, 2024
– “FOGO DO VENTO (FIRE OF WIND)” by Marta Mateus, Portugal, Switzerland, France, 2024
– “GREEN LINE” by Sylvie Ballyot, France, Lebanon, Qatar, 2024
– “LA MORT VIENDRA” by Christoph Hochhäusler, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, 2024
– “LUCE” by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino, Italy, 2024
– “MOND” by Kurdwin Ayub, Austria, 2024
– “QING CHUN (KU) (YOUTH (HARD TIMES))” by Wang Bing, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, 2024
– “SUYOOCHEON (BY THE STREAM)” by Hong Sangsoo, South Korea, 2024
– “SALVE MARIA” by Mar Coll, Spain, 2024
– “SESES (DROWNING DRY)” by Laurynas Bareiša, Lithuania, Latvia, 2024
– “SULLA TERRA LEGGERI” by Sara Fgaier, Italy, 2024
– “TRANSAMAZONIA” by Pia Marais, France, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, Brazil, 2024
– “YENI ȘAFAK SOLARKEN (NEW DAWN FADES)” by Gürcan Keltek, Türkiye, Italy, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, 2024

The Concorso Cineasti del presente (Filmmakers of the Present Competition) includes:

– “CRICKETS, IT’S YOUR TURN” by Olga Korotko, France, Kazakhstan, 2024
– “DER FLECK” by Willy Hans, Germany, Switzerland, 2024
– “FARIO” by Lucie Prost, France, 2024
– “FEKETE PONT (LESSON LEARNED)” by Bálint Szimler, Hungary, 2024
– “FOUL EVIL DEEDS” by Richard Hunter, United Kingdom, 2024
– “HANAMI” by Denise Fernandes, Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde, 2024
– “HOLY ELECTRICITY” by Tato Kotetishvili, Georgia, Netherlands, 2024
– “INVENTION” by Courtney Stephens, USA, 2024
– “JOQTAU” by Aruan Anartay, Kazakhstan, 2024
– “KADA JE ZAZVONIO TELEFON (WHEN THE PHONE RANG)” by Iva Radivojević, Serbia, USA, 2024
– “KOUTÉ VWA (LISTEN TO THE VOICES)” by Maxime Jean-Baptiste, Belgium, France, French Guiana, 2024
– “LES ENFANTS ROUGES” by Lotfi Achour, Tunisia, France, Belgium, Poland, 2024
– “MONÓLOGO COLECTIVO” by Jessica Sarah Rinland, Argentina, United Kingdom, 2024
– “OLIVIA & LAS NUBES” by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat, Dominican Republic, 2024
– “REAL” by Adele Tulli, Italy, France, 2024

The Pardi di Domani – Concorso Internazionale (Leopards of Tomorrow – International Competition) includes numerous talented filmmakers and unique entries from around the globe.

Source: Variety, Deadline