01/08/2007

The 60th Locarno International Film Festival opens this evening with Vexille, a Japanese CG animation film by Fumihiko Sorin, which will be shown on a giant screen on the Piazza Grande.

No less than 30 countries are represented by 80 features selected in the main official sections (Piazza Grande, International Competition, Filmmakers of the Present Competition, Ici et Ailleurs), including 20 debut films.

European films have also not been forgotten, as artistic director Frédéric Maire points out: “While France (nine films), Italy (eight) and Switzerland (four) are more than well represented, Spanish and Romanian participation is strong too (with two films each in competition), and there are also titles from Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and the United Kingdom”.

Twenty directors discovered by the festival have just celebrated its 60th anniversary with the screening of their feature debuts in a retrospective entitled Retour à Locarno. Claude Chabrol, Paulo Rocha, Marco Bellocchio, Raul Ruiz, Alain Tanner, Mike Leigh, Fredi M. Murer, Catherine Breillat and Marc Recha are among the guests.

Signore & Signore pays tribute to 20 great Italian actresses, including Anna Magnani, Alida Valli, Sofia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Silvana Mangano, Monica Vitti, Laura Morante and Asia Argento.

Other film personalities that will be honoured are Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Honorary Leopard), Argentinean producer Lita Stantic (Raimondo Rezzonico Award), as well as French actor-director Michel Piccoli (Locarno Excellence Award).

The co-production laboratory Open Doors (this year dedicated to filmmakers from the Middle East), the experimental section Play Forward, the Leopards of Tomorrow (short films competition), Critics’ Week and the Swiss showcase Appellations Suisse complete the 60th edition programme.

(Translated from French)