Strong French presence at the 71th Locarno Film Festival

20 JULY 2018

Twenty French (and minority French) features will receive their world premieres at the next Locarno Film Festival, which takes place August 1 through 11 in this lovely city located beside Lake Maggiore, in the south of Switzerland. A large delegation of French directors and actors will accompany the films, among whom Bruno Dumont, Jean Dujardin, Mélanie Thierry, Nicolas Philibert, and Virgil Vernier.

Each summer, Locarno becomes the world capital for arthouse cinema. From August 1 through 11, for this 71st edition, a dozen French productions and coproductions (and half a dozen minority coproductions), along with 16 short films (including VR), will be presented in world premiere screenings in the Swiss city.

This year, France already has a strong presence with three artists in the juries: Emmanuel Carrère (International Competition Jury), Laetitia Dosch (Concorso Cineasti del Presente Jury), and Yann Gonzalez, who is president of the Pardi di Domani Jury (short films), following on from Sabine Azéma, the 2017 president.

On the occasion of this 71st edition, the Swiss commune will welcome a great many French artists and producers, who will come to present their films to film-loving audiences who are always curious about new encounters. Scheduled to attend (tbc): Benoît Delépine, Jean Dujardin, Yolande Moreau, Mélanie Thierry, Vianney Lebasque, Jérémie Renier, Marthe Keller, Maud Wyler, Yolande Zauberman, Çagla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti, Abbas Fahdel, Virgil Vernier, Agathe Bonitzer, Nicolas Philibert, Eugène Green, along with many others.

And, of course, Bruno Dumont, who will receive a Pardo d'onore Manor lifetime achievement award during the world premiere of Coincoin and the Extra Humans, the highly awaited sequel to Li'l Quinquin. This will be the first time that the festival will screen a miniseries, which will naturally be presented in the mythical Piazza Grande.

UniFrance in Locarno

As is the case each year, UniFrance will be present at the Locarno International Film Festival and will organize, at the beginning of the festival, a professional cocktail gala bringing together the directors, actors, distributors, and exporters present at the event.

Program

Two French (or majority French) films are in the running for the Golden Leopard in the Official Competition: M, the new documentary by Yolande Zauberman, and Sibel by Çagla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti.

In the Piazza Grande, which can seat 8000 spectators, three French titles (along with Bruno Dumont's miniseries) will be screened: I Feel Good by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, Team Spirit by Vianney Lebasque, and Breath of Life by David Roux.

Two other French films will be shown in the Cineasti del presente competition section: Young and Alive by Matthieu Bareyre, and Sophia Antipolis by Virgil Vernier. The new documentary by Nicolas Philibert will be presented in the Fuori Concorso section.

Lastly, six French short films or French coproductions are competing in the Pardi di Domani category, and VR continues to pave its way with the presentation of three films.

In terms of special tributes, Bruno Dumont will be honored in the Histoire(s) du cinéma section with the presentation of three of his films, and homages will be given to Claude Lanzmann and Pierre Rissient with screenings of their films Five and the Skin and Shoah.