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LOCARNO 2018 Piazza Grande / Filmmakers of the Present / Signs of Life / Out of Competition / Critics' Week

Locarno's Piazza Grande opts for free and light-hearted comedies

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- Numerous European films have been selected for the parallel sections at Locarno Film Festival, with France, Italy and Switzerland all securing a spot on the Piazza Grande

Locarno's Piazza Grande opts for free and light-hearted comedies
I Feel Good by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern

The 71st edition of Locarno Film Festival (read about the International Competition here) will boost a strong American presence on the Piazza Grande (it would be impossible not to mention BlacKkKlansman by Spike Lee or Blaze by Ethan Hawke), but France has been granted the honour of opening and closing the festival in this majestic setting.

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Team Spirit [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Vianney Lebasque, which is due to be screened right after Liberty by the American director Leo McCarey, will kick off a “lighter and more care-free" programme in the Piazza Grande (to use Carlo Chatrian's own words). Consistent until the end, the programme will close with the irreverent notes of the comedy I Feel Good [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, which stars Jean Dujardin in the role of an irresistible trickster. The film will be followed by the premiere of the TV series Coincoin and the Extra Humans [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by this year's Pardo d'Onore winner Bruno Dumont. An absolute first for a Piazza that has not yet screened any TV series. A sign of the things to come? The third French film to be screened on the Piazza Grande will be Breath of Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the first feature film by David Roux (starring Belgian actor Jérémie Renier, and Swiss actress Marthe Keller),  which tells the story of a young doctor grappling with a series of existential doubts.

In terms of European films, the Piazza will be screening the world premieres of Le Vent tourne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bettina Oberli
film profile
]
, the first French language film bythe Swiss director Bettina Oberli, and the Italian-Swiss co-production The Guest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Duccio Chiarini
film profile
]
by Duccio Chiarini. Both films focus on modern couples struggling with the complexity of present times and the need to make very inconvenient decisions. My Beloved Enemy [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile
]
by Denis Rabaglia is also an Italian-Swiss co-production starring Diego Abatantuono and Sandra Milo. The Piazza will also be hosting the screenings of two films focusing on psychotherapists: Ruben Brandt, Collector [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the first feature film by the Hungarian director Milorad Krstic, which focuses on Ruben Brandt, a bizarre and extraordinary psychotherapist who turned into one of the most wanted criminals in the world, and the comedy Was uns nicht umbringt [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
bythe German director Sandra Nettelbeck.

The Filmmakers of the Present competition – which includes 16 films, nine of which are European productions and co-productions – includes the Swiss-Belgian co-production Those Who Work [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoine Russbach
film profile
]
, the first feature film by the very young Geneva-born director Antoine Russbach, Closing Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by yet another young Swiss director Nicole Vögele (Swiss-German co-production), a sort of cinematographic reflection on the chaos in Taipei, Sophia Antipolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Vernier
film profile
]
, the new film by French director Virgil Vernier, and the hotly-anticipated first feature films Yesterday [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Hungarian director Bálint Kenyeres and Trot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xacio Baño
film profile
]
 by Spanish director Xacio Baño.

Signs of Life, dedicated to new forms of storytelling, will once again welcome established professionals (such as Eugène Green and Como Fernando Pessoa salvou Portugal) as well as young promising directors.

Many European films are also due to be screened out of competition (eight of the eleven), including the Swiss films Amur senza fin [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Christoph Schaub and Islander [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Stéphane Goël, and the Italian film Ora e sempre riprendiamoci la vita [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Silvano Agostini, created using footage collected by the director in the ten-year period from 1968 to 1978 and featuring emblematic personalities such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Fo.

Lastly, the parallel section of the Critics' Week also announced its selection.

Selected films:

Piazza Grande 

BlacKkKlansmanSpike Lee (USA)
BlazeEthan Hawke (USA)
Coincoin and the Extra Humans [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Bruno Dumont (France)
I Feel Good [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Benoît Delépine e Gustave Kervern (France)
Le Vent tourne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bettina Oberli
film profile
]
Bettina Oberli (Switzerland/France)
Team Spirit [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Vianney Lebasque (France)
LibertyLeo McCarey (USA) (short film)
Breath of Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
David Roux (France)
The Guest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Duccio Chiarini
film profile
]
Duccio Chiarini (Italy/Switzerland/France)
Maynila sa kuko ng liwanagLino Brocka (the Philippines)
Birds of Passage [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra (Colombia/Denmark/Mexico)
Ruben Brandt, Collector [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Milorad Krstic (Hungary)
Se7enDavid Fincher (USA)
SearchingAnnesh Chaganty (USA)
The Equalizer 2Antoine Fuqua (USA)
My Beloved Enemy [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile
]
Denis Rabaglia (Italy/Switzerland)
Was uns nicht umbringt [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Sandra Nettelbeck (Germany)

Filmmakers of the Present

All Good [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Eva Trobisch (Germany)
Those Who Work [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoine Russbach
film profile
]
Antoine Russbach (Switzerland/Belgium)
Chaos [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Sara Fattahi (Austria/Syria/Lebanon/Qatar)
Closing Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Nicole Vögele (Switzerland/Germany)
Immersed Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Maria Alché (Argentina/Brazil/Germany/Norway)
FaustoAndrea Bussmann (Mexico/Canada)
The Dive [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Yona Rozenkier (Israel)
Suburban BirdsQiu Sheng (China)
Young and Alive [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matthieu Bareyre
film profile
]
Matthieu Bareyre (France)
Likemeback [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli (Italy/Croatia)
Dead Horse Nebula [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Tarık Aktaş (Turkey/France)
We Are Thankful [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Joshua Magor (South Africa/UK)
Sophia Antipolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Vernier
film profile
]
Virgil Vernier (France)
Yesterday [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Bálint Kenyeres (Hungary/Germany/France/Netherlands/Morocco/Sweden)
Long Way HomeAndré Novais Oliveira (Brazil)
Trot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xacio Baño
film profile
]
Xacio Baño (Spain/Lithuania)

Signs of Life 

A Room With a Coconut ViewTulapop Saenjaroen (Thailand) (short film)
Communion Los AngelesAdam R. Levine, Peter Bo Rappmund (USA)
Como Fernando Pessoa salvou PortugalEugène Green (Portugal/France/Belgium) (short film)
Dulcinea [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Luca Ferri (Italy)
GulyabaniGürcan Keltek (Netherlands/Turkey) (medium-length film)
The Fragile HouseLin Zi (China)
Men in the WallaHu Bo (China) (short film)
La casa de Julio IglesiasNatalia Marín (Spain) (short film)
Le discours d’acceptation glorieux de Nicolas ChauvinBenjamin Crotty (France) (short film)
Sedução da carneJúlio Bressane (Brazil)
Anything and All [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
Dídio Pestana (Portugal)
The Grand BizarreJodie Mack (USA)
Erased, Ascent of the InvisibleGhassan Halwani (Lebanon)
Veslemoy’s SongSofia Bohdanowicz (Canada) (short film) 

Out of Competition

Amur senza fin [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Christophe Schaub (Switzerland)
Each and Every Moment [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Nicolas Philibert (France/Japan)
Islander [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Stéphane Goël (Switzerland)
Mudar la piel [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Ana Schulz, Cristóbal Fernández (Spain)
My home, in Libya [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Martina Melilli (Italy)
Narcissister Organ PlayerNarcissister (USA)
Ora e sempre riprendiamoci la vita [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Silvano Agosti (Italy)
Acid Forest – Rugilé Barzdžiukaitė (Lithuania)
Just Like My Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Costanza Quatriglio
film profile
]
Costanza Quatriglio (Italy/Croatia/Belgium)
The SentenceRudy Valdez (USA)
Walking on Water [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Andrey Paounov (USA/Italy)

Critics' Week

The Apollo of Gaza [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Nicolas Wadimoff (Switzerland/Canada)
The Time of Forests [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- François-Xavier Drouet (France)
#Female Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Barbara Miller (Switzerland/Germany)
Days of Madness [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Damian Nenadic (Croatia/Slovenia)
Easy Lessons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Dorottya Zurbó (Hungary)
Women with Gunpowder Earrings - Reza Farahmand (Iran)
Tara's Footprint - Georgina Barreiro (Argentina)

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(Translated from Italian)

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