Locarno Reveals Lineup, Names Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet for Career Achievement Awards

Marta Balaga Locarno has revealed this year’s official selection. Known auteurs Hong Sang-soo (“By the Stream”) and Wang Bing (“Youth (Hard Times)”) will now battle it out in the official selection, which will welcome 17 world premieres.

Italy will be represented by Sara Fgaier’s “Sulla Terra Leggeri” and “Luce,” directed by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino. Ala Eddine Slim’s “Agora” will also be shown, as well as Ben Rivers’ “Bogancloch,” “Cent Mille Milliards” by Virgil Vernier and Saulė Bliuvaitė’s “Toxic.” “We are very excited and happy with our selection, which we believe represents the best of contemporary filmmaking.

We have taken special care in highlighting those works that, while broadening the possibilities of cinema, are also consciously trying to spark a more meaningful conversation with the audience,” stated artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, adding that the fest “continues to offer itself up as a platform for intersectional dialogue.” The audience will get to discover Ramon Zürcher’s “The Sparrow in the Chimney,” Marta Mateus’ “Fire of Wind,” “Green Line” by Sylvie Ballyot and “Death Will Come” by Christoph Hochhäusler.

“Mond” directed by Kurdwin Ayub, Mar Coll’s “Mothers Don’t,” Pia Marais’ “Transamazonia,” “New Dawn Fades” by Gürcan Keltek and “Drowning Dry” by Laurynas Bareiša round up the section. The event, which will celebrate its 77th edition, also announced the recipients of Excellence Awards Davide Campari: Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, dedicated to “performers with extraordinary careers.” French stars will be seen in this year’s opening film, “Le Déluge,” by Gianluca Jodice, about the last days of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI.

According to Nazzaro, the film features their “career-defining performances.” “Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet have forged personal and identifiable acting paths for themselves over the years. Working in the service of a French and European tradition of an auteur cinema that often intersects with the reasons of a cultured popular cinema, the two performers have shown extraordinary sensitivity in the composition of their roles, thus giving rise to artistic, personal trajectories that are appreciated by