07/09/2009

Olivier Père, who has taken over from Frédéric Maire as artistic director of the Locarno International Film Festival, has not been resting on his laurels. Only three days after he took up the position, he made the announcement that the 63rd edition of the festival (August 4-14, 2010) would screen a full retrospective on the work of Ernst Lubitsch in cooperation with the Cinémathèque française competition.

“With this retrospective, we want to pay homage to one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema, and the uncontested master of comedy, he declared. The aim is to offer to the general public and historians alike the chance to (re)discover all the facets of the famous "Lubitsch Touch", known for his unique blend of elegance, satire, character, sense of rhythm and ellipsis.”

Born in Berlin in 1892, Lubitsch immigrated to the States in 1922, where before turning to la directing, he wrote scripts for and starred in hit comedies. He directed more than 70 films in his lifetime, about 20 of which are thought to have been lost. His best known titles are Trouble in Paradise (1932), Ninotchka (1939) and To Be or Not to Be (1942).

Meanwhile, the members of the new selection committee of the Locarno International Film festival have been named: Philip Cheah (Singapore), Jean-François Deveau (France), Mark Peranson (Canada), Roberto Turigliatto (Italy) and Agnès Wildenstein (France).