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1/8/2000

Locarno Film Festival

Diverse Sedi, Locarno

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The competition section revolves around a combination of "young cinema" and "new cinema". Originally confining it to first and second time directors, in 1996 the FIAPF allowed the festival to extend its selection process to include innovative films by directors who had already made a number of features but had not yet received international recognition. Despite the 1996 shift away from its origins of supporting first and second time directors, the festival has retained its reputation as being a international leader in discovering fresh talent. Filmmakers who got one of their first international screenings at Locarno include Tom DiCillo, Mario Van Peebles, Claire Denis, Patricia Mazuy, Davide Ferrario, Tony Gatlif, Chen Kaige, Wong Kar-Wai, Abbas Kiarostami, Clara Law, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Darezhan Omirbaev, Jafar Panahi, Aleksandr Sokurov, Dito Tsintsadze and Zhang Yuan among others. It brings together some twenty full-lenght features and what lies behind the selection of competing titles, in which penetrating vision, originality of style or the strenght of a minority viewpoint are the distinguishing marks of a section that reflects the state of the art in new world cinema.

PIAZZA GRANDE
One of the main attraction of the festival is its Piazza Grande screenings in Locarno's central square. Boasting a giant 26 by 14 metre screen and an audience capacity of some 8,5000, the square is transformed into one of the world's largest open-air cinema for the duration of the festival. The Piazza Grande programme comprises competition titles as well as an eclectic slate of mainstream studio titles and lesser known auteur works from a variety of cultures. Last year's Piazza Grande slate, for example, featured the international premiere of Mike Newell's Pushing Tin, the world premiere of Frank Oz' Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy vehicle Bowfinger and of Tornatore's Legend of 1900 alongside classics such as the restored version of The Birds (in presence of Tippi Hedren) and premieres of auteur works such as Zhang Yuan's new film Fengkuang Yingyu (Crazy English).

FILMMAKERS OF THE PRESENT
The Filmmakers Of the Present is a sidebar of some 30 films and videos which examines current cinematic activity with a focus on films which experiment, invent, play with fiction and non-fiction and are rooted in memory and individual stories. Since 1992, this has been the premiere showcase provided by Locarno for new titles from directors such as Chantal Ackerman, Charles Burnett, Alain Cavalier, Ciprì and Maresco, Robert Frank, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert kramer, François Ozon, Mark Rappaport, Paulo Rocha and Alexandre Sokurov among the others. Offering a window for innovative, and more often than not young, talent is the Sony-sponsored video section which in 1999 was won by Jem Cohen's video collage of Pisa Amber City.

KINGS OF THE B's (FEVI)
Following a line of exploration indicated by the most stimulating new researches (such as the 2000 Jury memeber Todd McCarthy), the Festival has decided to give special focus every year to the directors and producers insisting on a very personal vision within the fream work of genre pictures.

SWISS CINEMA
Back at home, the festival promotes local cinema through the Swiss Cinema section which was launched in 1996 as a showcase for contemporary films. Last years participants included Benny Fasnacht's General Sutter, Patricia Plattner's Made In India and ID Swiss, a series of seven films by young filmmakers about what it means to be Swiss. The festival also pays tribute to past Swiss cinema through the retrospective section "Cinema Swiss Rediscovered" section which was launched in 1992. Swiss-German writer Friedrich Glauser, many of whose novels were adapted for the cinema in the 1930s and 40s, director Jacques Feyder and the 50th anniversary of the Swiss Cinematheque have all been feted in the section.

THE LEOPARDS OF TOMORROW
Looking to the future, the Leopards of Tomorrow section, launched in 1991, is an annual showcase of upcoming talent in one or two territories ­ last year the section focused on new Swiss and Portuguese filmmakers. Other countries to come under the spotlight in recent years include Britain, France, Italy, North America and Canada. The year 2000 is a milestone in the development of the section, marking the completion of its first decade and will celebrate its tenth birthday with a tribute to Spain, presenting a wide-ranging overview of the short films produced in recent years, in competition, plus a retrospective look at shorts by some Spanish cinemas' leading directors. As usual the section will also be presenting the "New Swiss Talents" competition, open to the best short films produced in Switzerland in 1999 and 2000.

INDUSTRY OFFICE
The presence of movie buyers and sales agents at Locarno is becoming more signifiant with every years that goes by, and the Festival has responded by setting up a service to coordinate contacts and information for industry professionals, including dedicated scrrenings reserved to the film-professionals. On a more practical note, the festival also hosts the Locarno "Trade-show" at which Swiss distributors screen films from their forthcoming slates to exhibitors.

THE CRITICS' WEEK
First held in 1990, the Critics' Week takes an annual look at the state of the art of documentary cinema, with a selection of seven titles chosen for their particular value of expression or content. 75 films have been presented during the ten Critics' Weeks held to date, including works by Erroll Morris, Fredi M. Murer, Nicholas Philibert, Richard Dindo, J. van der Keuken, Zhang Yuan, Davide Ferrario, to name just some of the directors involved. The Critics' Week is an independent section, organised by Switzerland's national association of cinema journalists in corporation with the director and organisers of the Locarno Festival.

Organiser
via Luini 3a
CH-6601 Locarno
Switzerland
Tel : 41 91 756 21 21
Fax : 41 91 756 21 49

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