25/05/2006

The 59th edition of the Locarno Film Festival (August 2-12), which has a new artistic director, Frédréric Maire, will be marked by change. During Cannes, it was announced that a new competition section has been added to the festival, "Filmmakers of the Present", dedicated to emerging talent. The Human Rights section, created by previous director Irene Bignardi, will not be brought back, while the Video Competition and In Progress sections will merge into Play Forward, a section that focuses on experimentation.

The Leopard of Honour will be given to Russia’s Alexander Sokurov, who will present the world premiere of his film. Aki Kaurismaki has also confirmed he will attend: Lights In The Dusk [+see also:
trailer
film profile], his competition film at Cannes, will be screened in the Piazza Grande, and a complete retrospective will also be held on the director, accompanied by a book published in collaboration with Cahiers du Cinéma. BR> Swiss cinema will also have an entire day dedicated to it. La liste de Carla (lit. “Carla’s Lists), the new documentary by Marcel Schüpbach, will be screened in the Piazza Grande, and the names of two Swiss artists have been announced for the jury: photographer and documentary filmmaker Edo Bertoglio and video artist Emmanuelle Antille.

(Translated from Italian)