Swiss Cinema at Locarno 2020

There's history and there's the future, there's young talents and there's great auteurs. Whether it's looking ahead or glancing at the past, Switzerland is present in Locarno. More specifically, Swiss cinema confirms its place and central role in a 72-year old history, as part of the competitions of Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films and the trips down the Festival's memory lane.

The Competitions

26 competing directors. That is the amount of Swiss filmmakers who will be part of The Films After Tomorrow and Pardi di domani on August 5-15. There are ten interrupted projects competing for the Pardo 2020, and twelve short films in the running for the Pardino d'oro and Pardino d'argento. 41 projects - nearly 50% of the yearly Swiss output - were submitted for the Films After Tomorrow selection. And as always, there's a vast assortment of competing short films.These are the 10 projects selected for The Films After Tomorrow, and the 12 films in the Pardi di domani section. 

The Films After Tomorrow - Swiss selection

• Azor by Andreas Fontana
• Ein Stück Himmel (A Piece of Sky) by Michael Koch
• Far West by Pierre-François Sauter
• A Flower in the Mouth by Eric Baudelaire
• L’Afrique des femmes by Mohammed Soudani
• Les Histoires d’amour de Liv S. by Anna Luif
• LUX by Raphaël Dubach and Mateo Ybarra
• Olga by Elie Grappe
• Unrueh (Unrest) by Cyril Schäublin
• Zahorí by Marí Alessandrini

Pardi di domani - Swiss competition

• Bugs, by David Shongo
• Ecorce (Peel), by Samuel Patthey and Silvain Monney
• Espiritos e Rochas: um Mito Açoriano (Spirits and Rocks: an Azorean Myth), by Aylin Gökmen
• Grigio. Terra bruciata (Burnt. Land of Fire), by Ben Donateo
• Lachsmänner (Salmon Men), by Veronica L. Montaño, Manuela Leuenberger and Joel Hofmann
• Megamall, by Aline Schoch
• Menschen am Samstag (People on Saturday), by Jonas Ulrich
• Nha Mila, by Denise Fernandes
• Push This Button If You Begin To Panic, by Gabriel Böhmer
• The De Facto Martyr Suite, by Justine de Gasquet
• Trou Noir (Black Hole), by Tristan Aymon
• Um Tordo Batendo As Asas Contra o Vento (A Thrush Flapping Its Wings Against the Wind), by Alexandre Haldemann

Other sections

Swiss cinema is also featured in the other section of Locarno 2020. A Journey in the Festival’s History will offer audiences the chance to rediscover filmmakers like  Alain Tanner, Clemens Klopfenstein or Remo Legnazzi, or "distant" Swiss productions like Au nom du Christ, which was produced by Amka Films in 1993. There's also the closing night, with Collection Lockdown by Swiss Filmmakers and the Swiss production La France contre les Robots, the latest short film directed by the great French filmmaker Jean-Marie Straub. Is that it? The Secret Screenings section is unaccounted for, and maybe there will be a Swiss surprise for the Locarno audience amid the nine screenings that Artistic Director Lili Hinstin has programmed under the radar. This is the list of Swiss productions in the non-competitive sections of Locarno 2020.  

A Journey in the Festival’s History

• Au nom du Christ, di Roger Gnoan M’Bala
• Charles mort ou vif, di Alain Tanner
• E Nachtlang Füürland, di Clemens Klopfenstein e Remo Legnazzi

Closing ceremony

• La France contre les Robots, by Jean-Marie Straub
  
  Collection Lockdown by Swiss Filmmakers:
• My Mom, My Son and Me, by Andrea  Štaka
• Quasi padre, quasi figlio, by Niccolò Castelli  
• Fuso orario, by Riccardo Bernasconi and Francesca Reverdito  
• L’età del distanziamento sociale, by Robert Ralston  
• Lutto sospeso in tempi incerti, by Alessandra Gavin Mueller
• Amen, by Manuel Maria Perronne
• Arancione, by Simona Canonica  
• Oasis, by Lila Ribi  
• Revoir le printemps – Journal d'un confinement, by Germinal Roaux  

If the Locarno 2020 audience will be able to embark on a journey through Swiss cinema, both past and present, we also owe it to the film industry, from the Cinémathèque Suisse to the distributors, from the festival community to the VOD platforms, which, this year more than ever, have chosen to stand by the Locarno Film Festival ti craft Locarno 2020 together. For the Future of (Swiss) Films.