The Locarno International Film Festival has revealed its 2019 program. According to Screen Daily, 10 women-directed pics — including the previously-announced opener, Ginevra Elkann’s “If Only” (“Magari”) — will screen in fest’s major categories. That’s about 28 percent of the 36-film schedule, which marks Lili Hinstin’s first lineup as the fest’s new artistic director.
“The choices you make for your first festival all tend to become a kind of manifesto,” Hinstin said. “I hope that will be the case for me, too, and that my first edition as Artistic Director will present you with an editorial line that is clear and precise but also eclectic, open to all genres, all continents, all forms of representation.”
Three of the 12 movies chosen for the Piazza Grande section are directed by women. This ratio, 25 percent women-directed, improves on last year’s 19 percent. Alongside coming-of-age story “If Only,” Halina Reijn’s “Instinct” and Valérie Donzelli’s “Notre Dame” will screen. The former, Reijn’s first feature, centers on the bond a psychologist forms with the incarcerated sex offender she’s treating. The latter is a comedy about marriage and failure.
Seven films will screen in the new late night category, Piazza Grande’s Crazy Midnight, and two, or 29 percent, are from women directors. They are “Greener Grass,” Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe’s comedic portrait of competitive mothers, and Natascha Beller’s “Vagenda Stories,” an exploration of female friendship and fertility.
Locarno’s 2019 International Competition lineup includes 17 films, five of which are helmed by women, or about 29 percent. This is a significant increase from 2018’s 17 percent. Among the women-directed titles this year is Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova’s “Cat in the Wall,” which traces the interconnected stories of people whose lives are changed by a feline stuck in the walls of an apartment building. French filmmaker Catherine Breillat will lead the International Competition jury, whose members include producer Ilse Hughan and actress-filmmaker Angela Schanelec.
The 72nd Locarno Film Fest will take place August 7-17. This year’s edition will present Oscar winner Hilary Swank with the Leopard Club Award. Editor Claire Atherton (“Hungry Man”) will receive the Vision Award Ticinomoda.
Last year the fest signed the Pledge for Parity and Inclusion, committing to greater transparency in its selection process and staff, with the goal of eventually bettering gender representation.
All of the women-directed titles screening in the major Locarno 2019 categories are below. List adapted from Screen Daily.
Piazza Grande
If Only (Magari) (Ita/Fra), dir. Ginevra Elkann, world premiere, first feature, OPENING FILM
Instinct (Neth), dir. Halina Reijn, world premiere, first feature
Notre Dame (Fra/Bel), dir. Valérie Donzelli, world premiere
Piazza Grande, Crazy Midnight
Vagenda Stories (Die Fruchtbaren Jahre Sind Vorbei) (Swi), dir. Natascha Beller, world premiere, first feature
Greener Grass (USA), dir. Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, international premiere, first feature
International Competition
The Fever (A Febre) (Bra/Fra/Ger), dir. Maya Da-Rin, world premiere
Cat In The Wall (Bul/UK/Fra), dir. Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova, world premiere
During Revolution (Fi Al-Thawra) (Syr/Swe), dir. Maya Khoury, world premiere, first feature
Hogar (Ita/Arg), dir. Maura Delpero, world premiere
Twelve Thousand (Douze Mille) (Fra), dir. Nadège Trebal, world premiere
