22/07/2016 - There are a lot of Swiss films in the various sections of this year’s edition of the festival, from the International Competition to Piazza Grande and Filmmakers of the Present

Marija by Michael Koch

The International Competition of the Locarno Film Festival this year welcomes no fewer than two Swiss films: La idea de un lago [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milagros Mumenthaler
film profile] by Swiss-Argentinian director Milagros Mummenthaler, who already tasted triumph at Locarno with his film Back To Stay [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milagros Mumenthaler
film profile] (which received five awards, including the Golden Leopard, the Golden Leopard for Best Female Performance, and the FIPRESCI Prize), and Marija [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Koch
film profile] by Lucerne-born director Michael Koch, which was produced by German company Pandora Film and Swiss company Hugo Film. Both films portray strong and brave women who must come to terms with a difficult past and a present that has yet to be forged.

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The Piazza Grande section will host the world premiere of Moka [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the latest film by Romand director Frédéric Mermoud, who co-founded Bande à part Films (with Ursula Meier, Lionel Baier and Jean-Stéphane Bron) and is a regular face at the Festival. The film stars two exceptional French actresses, Emmanuelle Devos and Nathalie Baye. The Filmmakers of the Present section instead features two young directors: Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker Klaudia Reynicke with her film Il nido [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and Italian director (trained in Switzerland) Michele Pennetta with Pescatori di corpi [+see also:
film review
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film profile], a portrayal of the indifference to the highly current drama of immigration. Both films were produced by French production companies, Amka and Close Up Films, respectively. Another eagerly anticipated highlight includes the new and powerful documentary by Heidi Specogna, Cahiers africains [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which bravely tackles the delicate topic of the rape of 300 women by Congolese mercenaries during the armed conflict of October 2002. A documentary and a fictional film have instead been selected out of competition: Jean Ziegler, l’optimisme de la volonté [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the portrayal of an extraordinary man by documentary-maker Nicolas Wadimoff, the director of the multi-award-winning Spartans [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Wadimoff
film profile], and Un juif pour l’exemple [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jacob Berger, starring Swiss actor Bruno Ganz.

Last but not least, the Panorama Suisse section is not to be missed. As always, it will showcase ten Swiss films released this year, which are chosen by a committee made up of representatives from the Solothurn Film Festival, the Swiss Film Academy, and Swiss Films. This year the selection includes Rio Corgo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Maya Kosa and Sergio da Costa (winner of the prestigious Documentaire-CH award of the Pour-cent Culturel Migros), and My Life As A Film - How My Father Tried To Capture Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Eva Vitija (which won the 2016 Solothurn Award).

(Translated from Italian)