09/07/2025 - Many European films are competing for the Golden Leopard, with debut features cohabitating with works by established directors such as Radu Jude, Ben Rivers and Abdellatif Kechiche

The 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival (6-16 August) puts forward cinema as a means to reflect on a historical moment as violent as it is frightening. Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro wondered about the difference between a “real” image and a cinematic one, about the capacity that the film medium has to “verify the possibilities of another possible world”. As highlighted by president Maja Hoffmann, Locarno is therefore committed to “honouring the strength of the cinematic medium by supporting works that aren’t satisfied with indulging in clichés and commercial expectations”.  This edition features 221 films, 99 of which are world premieres and 7 international premieres.

In International Competition, which is welcoming a total of 17 films, there are several new works by festival regulars: Dracula by Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude which, as the title indicates, centres on the famous blood-sucker in the world, and Mare’s Nest, the latest feature by British director Ben Rivers, set in a utopian world where there are only children living without any rules, wild and free. Romania is also represented by Sorella di clausura by filmmaker of Serbian origins Ivana Mladenović (Special Jury Prize in the Cineasti del presente section for Ivana the Terrible [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ada Solomon
film profile]), set in the 1990s musical scene. Another Serbian film is Desire Lines by Dane Komljen (already selected in Locarno with All the Cities of the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dane Komljen
film profile] and his award-winning short film Fantasy Sentences), a film set on the nocturnal streets of Belgrade.

Surprisingly, the selection also includes the new film by Abdellatif Kechiche, Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due, the second part after its predecessor Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (in competition in Venice in 2017), after the controversial Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo [+see also:
film review
film profile] (in competition in Cannes in 2019).

The three debut features in competition are White Snail by the duo consisting of Austrian filmmaker Elsa Kremser and German director Levin Peter (in Cineasti del Presente with Space Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter
film profile]); The Lake by Swiss filmmaker Fabrice Aragno (present in Locarno last year but as a producer to support the film Fire of Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]); and Le bambine, also directed by a duo, the Italian filmmakers Valentina and Nicole Bertani, centred on the experience of growing up in a world that doesn’t seem to consider childhood for its true worth.

The competition will also welcome The Seasons, by filmmaker Maureen Fazendeiro (who co-directed The Tsugua Diaries [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Nunes Monteiro
interview: Maureen Fazendeiro and Migu…
film profile] with Miguel Gomes) which observes with precision and passion the inhabitants of the Portuguese region of Alentejo. Croatian director Hana Jušić (previously selected in Giornate degli Autori in Venice with Quit Staring at My Plate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hana Jušić
film profile]) will present God Will Not Help, set at the beginning of the 20th century in a hostile yet fascinating context. Phantoms of July by German director Julian Radlmaier (previously in the Encounters section of the Berlinale with Bloodsuckers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julian Radlmaier
film profile]) portrays the fragile yet intense daily life of a group of characters seemingly very different from one another. Donkey Days by Netherlands-born director Rosanne Pel investigates the complex relationship between two sisters and their mother. Norway will also be represented by Solomamma by Janicke Askevold, which centres on maternity and the crazy hopes that accompany it. Also selected is dry Leaf, the new film by Georgian filmmaker Alexandre Koberidze following What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandre Koberidze
film profile], about a photographer disappearing mysteriously, and With Hasan In Gaza, by Palestinian director Kamal Aljafari (A Fidai Film [+see also:
film review
interview: Kamal Aljafari
film profile]), which thanks to a series of archival images gives life to a place that now only exists in his memories. Completing the competition are Tales Of The Wounded Lands by Lebanese filmmaker Abbas Fahdel and Two Seasons, Two Strangers by Japanese director Sho Miyake.

Meanwhile, nine out of fourteen films out of competition are European productions and co-productions. Swiss director Jean-Stéphane Bron will be present with two films: Le Chantier which centres on the almost oneiric construction of cinemas that will remain for posterity, and the series The Deal [+see also:
series review
series profile] (also on Piazza Grande). Italy, meanwhile, will be represented by Bobò by theatre director Pippo Delbono, a delicate portrait of his friend and partner who disappeared, leaving behind an infinite void, and Il vangelo di Giuda by Giulio Base, a film loosely based on the gospels and its controversial characters. Also worth mentioning is E, by Finnish singer and director Anna Eriksson, an allegory about the responsibility to be a political woman today; Nova ‘78 by Aaron Brookner and Rodrigo Areias which, thanks to a series of archive materials, immerses the viewer in the utopias of the Beat generation; Exile by Mehdi Hmili, one of the most important figures of independent Tunisian cinema; Silencio, a miniseries by Spanish actor and director Eduardo Casanova, and Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of A Nation by Ebs Burnough, a documentary about the iconic american writer.

Finally, regarding the tributes: the acclaimed American director Alexander Payne (Honorary Leopard), the Lebanese production company Abbout Productions (Raimondo Rezzonico Award), actress and director Lucy Liu (Career Achievement Award), British actress, screenwriter and producer Emma Thompson (Leopard Club Award) and costume designer Milena Canonero. The Career Leopard will be given to the iconic actor, director and martial arts figure Jackie Chan. The films in the parallel sections have also been unveiled (read news).

The selected films:

Competition

The Lake – Fabrice Aragno (Switzerland)
With Hasan In Gaza – Kamal Aljafari (Palestine/Germany/France/Qatar)
Solomamma – Janicke Askevold (Norway/Latvia/Lithuania/Denmark/Finland)
Le bambine – Valentina Bertani, Nicole Bertani (Italy/Switzerland/France)
Tales Of The Wounded Lands – Abbas Fahdel (Lebanon)
The Seasons – Maureen Fazendeiro (Portugal/France/Spain/Austria)
Dracula – Radu Jude (Romania/Austria/Luxembourg)
God Will Not Help – Hana Jušić (Croatia/Italy/Romania/Greece/France/Slovenia)
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due – Abdellatif Kechiche (France)
Dry Leaf – Alexandre Koberidze (Germany/Georgia)
Desire Lines – Dane Komljen (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Netherlands/Croatia/Germany)
White Snails – Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (Austria/Germany)
Two Seasons, Two Strangers – Sho Miyake (Japan)
Sorella di clausura – Ivana Mladenović (Romania/Serbia/Italy/Spain)
Donkey Days – Rosanne Pel (Netherlands/Germany)
Phantoms of July – Julian Radlmaier (Germany)
Mare’s Nest – Ben Rivers (UK/France/Canada)

Out of Competition

Il vangelo di Giuda – Giulio Base (Italy/Poland)
Nova ’78 – Aaron Brokner, Rodrigo Areias (UK/Portugal)
Le chantier – Jean-Stéphane Bron (France/Switzerland)
The Deal [+see also:
series review
series profile] - Jean-Stéphane Bron (Switzerland/France/Luxembourg/Belgium) (series)
Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of A Nation – Ebs Burnough (UK/USA)
Silencio – Eduardo Casanova (Spain) (series)
Bobò – Pippo Delbono (Italy)
Legend Of The Happy Worker – Duwayne Dunham (USA)
E – Anna Eriksson (Finland)
Keep Quiet – Vincent Grashaw (USA)
Exile – Mehdi Hmili (Tunisia/Luxembourg/France/Qatar/ Saudi Arabia)
Some Notes On The Current Situation – Eran Kolirin (Israel)
Deathstalker – Steven Kostanski (Canada)
I Live Here Now – Julie Pacino (USA)

(Translated from Italian)