Large line-up of German productions and co-productions in the Locarno 2024 competitions
Maja Hoffmann, who succeeded the long-standing festival head Marco Solari as the new Festival President, joined Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro on Wednesday, July 10, to present the line-up for this year's Locarno Film Festival which will screen a total of 225 films, including 104 world premieres, five international premieres and several first features.
Tez kills for money and Charles is her client - things get dark in Christoph Hochhäusler's DEATH WILL COME (Heimatfilm). The German director’s gangster thriller will be screening in the Concorso Internazionale. What initially looks like a supposedly one-sided revenge story from the Brussels underworld gradually becomes more and more opaque. It is soon difficult to tell who wants to take revenge on whom and to determine who are the hunter and the hunted. This section also features the German co-production TRANSAMAZONIA (Pandora Filmproduktion) by German director Pia Marais and starring German actress Helena Zengel. She plays Rebecca, the daughter of a missionary, who is the only survivor of a plane crash in the Amazon and is now considered a miracle healer by the locals. This in turn leads to conflicts between the indigenous population and the illegal loggers.
The other competition section, Filmmakers of the Present (Concorso Cineasti Del Presenti), will present DER FLECK (five films) by Willy Hans. This coming-of-age film about 17-year-old Simon, who runs away from boarding school and then meets a strange group of teenagers. Together with Marie, he disappears into the timeless inbetween realm of the nearby riparian forest. With associative images and mystical shots of nature, the film explores the boundaries between individuality and community.
German shorts repeat last year’s experience by having another strong presence with several titles in the Pardi di Domani - Concorso Internazionale, including four majority productions: DULL SPOTS OF GREENISH COLOURS (Wait a Second!) by Sasha Svirsky, ICEBERGS (German Film and Television Academy Berlin) by Carlos Pereira, MOTHER IS A NATURAL SINNER (German Film and Television Academy Berlin) by Boris Hadžija, Hoda Taheri and GIMN CHUME (HYMN OF THE PLAGUE) by Philipp Ivanov, Alexander Epikhov, Dimitri Gorbaty.
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (Run Way Pictures) by Mohammad Rasoulof will be screened in what the festival itself describes as the "most beautiful open-air cinema" - on the Piazza Grande. The drama about an Iranian investigating judge had already generated a lot of attention and enthusiasm in Cannes. As the film had to be completed at very short notice for Cannes, the director made some minor changes after the French festival and this modified version will now be shown in Locarno.
The German production AKIKO - THE FLYING MONKEY (AKIKO - DER FLIEGENDE AFFE) (Veit Helmer-Filmproduktion) by Veit Helmer will also be shown in the Locarno Kids: Screenings section. And the parallel section of the independent Semaine de la Critique, which showcases seven innovative documentaries that thematically and stylistically stand out from conventional trends, has selected FAMILIAR PLACES by Mala Reinhardt and JENSEITS VON SCHULD (Trimafilm) by Katharina Köster and Katrin Nemec.
This year will again see, German Films cooperating with Locarno Pro on the "Match Me!" programme. "Match Me!" has been offering offered an informal networking platform since 2015 for up-and-coming producers with a distinct focus and strong visions to better orientate themselves within the industry. The programme is based on a simple idea: what, if not the professional network, can enrich the work of a producer? With this in mind, producers Felix Schreiber (Sommerhaus Film), Maritza Grass (Carousel Film) and Ali Hakim (Hakim + König Film) will be travelling with German Films to the festival to have the chance to establish relationships with potential business partners in Locarno.
An overview of all of the German productions and co-productions in Locarno:
Concorso Internazionale
DEATH WILL COME (LA MORT VIENDRA) by Christoph Hochhäusler (DE/LU/BE, Heimatfilm)
TRANSAMAZONIA by Pia Marais (FR/DE/CH/TW/BR, Pandora Filmproduktion)
BOGANCLOCH by Ben Rivers (UK/DE/IS, Flaneur Films)
NEW DAWN FADES by Gürcan Keltek (TR/IT/DE/NO/NL, StoryBay Media)
Piazza Grande
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG by Mohammad Rasoulof (DE/FR/IR, Run Way Pictures)
ELECTRIC CHILD by Simon Jaquemet (CH/DE/NL/PL, unafilm)
Concorso Cineasti del Presenti
DER FLECK by Willy Hans (DE/CH, Fünferfilm)
Pardi di Domani – Concorso Internazionale
DULL SPOTS OF GREENISH COLOURS by Sasha Svirsky (Wait a Second!)
ICEBERGS by Carlos Pereira (German Film and Television Academy Berlin)
MOTHER IS A NATURAL SINNER by Boris Hadžija, Hoda Taheri (DE/IR, German Film and Television Academy Berlin)
400 CASSETTES by Thelyia Petraki (GR/RO/DE, Watchmen)
ON THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF AN HOMAGE by Xandra Popescu (RO/DE, Komplizen Film)
GIMN CHUME (HYMN OF THE PLAGUE) by Philipp Ivanov, Alexander Epikhov, Dimitri Gorbaty
Locarno Kids: Screenings
AKIKO - THE FLYING MONKEY (AKIKO - DER FLIEGENDE AFFE) by Veit Helmer (Veit Helmer-Filmproduktion)
Semaine de la Critique
FAMILIAR PLACES by Mala Reinhardt
JENSEITS VON SCHULD by Katharina Köster, Katrin Nemec (Trimafilm)
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LOCARNO PRO
Alliance4Development
A PARADISE LOST by Kim Lêa Sakkal (DE/FR, filmfaust)
BOURGEOIS PARANOIA by Lukas Nathrath (Klinkerfilm)
Open Doors Screening
EAMI by Paz Encina (PY/AR/MX/DE/US/NL/FR, Black Forest Films)