“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time,” Nazzaro told Variety in a statement. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.”
Variety also notes of the Locarno lineup: “As for gender parity in this year’s Locarno lineup, Nazzaro noted that the Filmmakers of the Present section, which is dedicated specifically to discoveries, features nine out of fifteen entries by female directors. Not so when it comes to the fest’s main competition which features just four women directors out of seventeen entries which Nazzaro said reflects the submissions he received to this section that were 70 percent by male directors and 30 percent female.” The lineup for the 2021 Locarno Film Festival is listed below. PIAZZA GRANDE “Beckett,” Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (Italy) “Hinterland,” Stefan Ruzowitzky (Austria, Luxembourg) “Monte Verità,” Stefan Jäger (Switzerland, Austria, Germany) “The Alleys,” Bassel Ghandour (Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar) “Free Guy,” Shawn Levy (U.S., Canada, Japan) “Ida Red,” John Swab (U.S.) “Yaya e Lennie – The Walking Liberty,” Alessandro Rak (Italy) “Rose,” Aurélie Saada (France) “Respect,” Liesl Tommy (Canada, U.S.) “Vortex,” Gaspar Noé (France/Belgium/Monaco) “Sinkhole,” Kim Ji-hoon (South Korea) INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION “The Giants,” Bonifacio Angius (Italy) “The River,” Ghassan Salhab (Lebanon, France, Germany, Qatar) “Juju Stories,” Abba T. Makama, C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi, Michael Omonua (Nigeria, France) “Medea,” Alexander Zeldovich (Russia) “Soul of a Beast,” Lorenz Merz (Switzerland) “Petite Solange – Axelle Ropert (France) “Luzifer,” Peter Brunner (Austria) “Zeros and Ones,” Abel Ferrara (Italy, Germany, U.S.) “Heavens Above,” Srdjan Dragojevic (Serbia, Germany, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina) “The Odd-Job Men,” Neus Ballús (Spain)
“A New Old Play” Qiu Jiongjiong (Hong Kong, France) “The Sacred Spirit” Chema García Ibarra (Spain, France, Turkey) “Cop Secret” Hannes Þór Halldórsson (Iceland) “Secret Name” Aurélia Georges (France) “Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” by Edwin (Indonesia, Singapore Germany) “Paradis sale” by Bertrand Mandico (France) “Gerda,” Natalya Kudryashova (Russia) As for the 2021 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, this 55th edition of the event has a lineup that includes 32 premieres. For the first time, documentaries were welcomed into the two competition sections (the Crystal Globe Competition and East of the West Competition). The festival kicks off on August 20 with the premiere of David Ondříček’s “Zatopek,” a biographical drama about runner and four-time Olympic gold medalist Emil Zátopek. The festival will also include a 10-film retrospective tribute to Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation. Check out the full Karlovy Vary lineup below. CRYSTAL GLOBE COMPETITION Atlas ptáků / Bird Atlas Director: Olmo Omerzu Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, 2021, 92 min, World premiere Boiling Point / Boiling Point Director: Philip Barantini United Kingdom, 2020, 94 min, World premiere Ezmûn / The Exam Director: Shawkat Amin Korki Germany, Iraq, Qatar, 2021, 89 min, World premiere Guerres / Wars Director: Nicolas Roy Canada, 2021, 84 min, World premiere Každá minuta života / Every Single Minute Director: Erika Hníková Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2021, 80 min, World premiere Láska pod kapotou / At Full Throttle Director: Miro Remo Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2021, 85 min, World premiere Nö / Nö Director: Dietrich Brüggemann Germany, 2021, 119 min, World premiere Le Prince / Le Prince Director: Lisa Bierwirth Germany, 2021, 125 min, World premiere Strahinja Banović / As Far as I Can Walk Director: Stefan Arsenijević Serbia, France, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Lithuania, 2021, 92 min, World premiere La terra dei figli / The Land of the Sons Director: Claudio Cupellini Italy, 2021, 118 min, International premiere Zbornica / The Staffroom Director: Sonja Tarokić Croatia, 2021, 126 min, World premiere Zpráva o záchraně mrtvého / Saving One Who Was Dead Director: Václav Kadrnka Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, France, 2021, 90 min, World premiere EAST OF THE WEST – COMPETITION Bliscy / Dear Ones Director: Grzegorz Jaroszuk Poland, Czech Republic, 2021, 74 min, World premiere Bėgikė / Runner Director: Andrius Blaževičius Lithuania, Czech Republic, 2021, 87 min, World premiere Jednotka intenzivního života / Intensive Life Unit Director: Adéla Komrzý Czech Republic, 2021, 73 min, World premiere Koreni / Roots Director: Tea Lukač Serbia, 2021, 80 min, World premiere
Külön falka / Wild Roots Director: Hajni Kis Hungary, Slovak Republic, 2021, 98 min, World premiere Marťanské lodě / Two Ships Director: Jan Foukal Czech Republic, Norway, 2021, 76 min, World premiere Nuuccha / Nuuccha Director: Vladimir Munkuev Russia, 2021, 107 min, World premiere Otar’s Death / Otar’s Death Director: Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, 2021, 106 min, World premiere Patchwork / Patchwork Director: Petros Charalambous Cyprus, Israel, Slovenia, 2021, 86 min, World premiere Poslije zime / After the Winter Director: Ivan Bakrač Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, 2021, 101 min, World premiere Sestri / Sisterhood Director: Dina Duma North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, 2021, 90 min, World premiere Zrcadla ve tmě / Mirrors in the Dark Director: Šimon Holý Czech Republic, 2021, 84 min, World premiere SPECIAL SCREENINGS Années 20 / Roaring 20’s Director: Elisabeth Vogler France, 2021, 90 min, European premiere Brighton 4th / Brighton 4th Director: Levan Koguashvili Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, USA, Monaco, 2021, 95 min, European premiere Moje slunce Mad / My Sunny Maad Director: Michaela Pavlátová Czech Republic, France, Slovak Republic, 2021, 81 min, International premiere O slavnosti a hostech / The Party and the Guests Director: Jan Němec Czechoslovakia, 1966, 71 min Podezření / Suspicion Director: Michal Blaško Czech Republic, France, 2022, 68 min, World premiere Rekonstrukce okupace / Reconstruction of Occupation Director: Jan Šikl Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2021, 95 min, World premiere Sny o toulavých kočkách / Dreams About Stray Cats Director: David Sís Czech Republic, USA, France, 2020, 96 min, World premiere Zátopek / Zátopek Director: David Ondříček Czech Republic, 2021, 131 min, World premiere Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.