The 64th Locarno Film Festival was held from 3 to 13 August 2011 in Locarno, Switzerland. There were 14 world premieres for films in competition. The opening film of the festival was J.J. Abrams' Super 8. Another American film, Cowboys & Aliens, also screened on the Piazza Grande, the 8,000-seat open-air theater. It was presented at the festival by the film's stars Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde and director Jon Favreau. Spike Jonze also screened his hand-made stop-motion short To Die by Your Side.
The festival featured a retrospective of American director Vincente Minnelli. Leslie Caron, star of his film An American in Paris, attended the festival for the retrospective. Other stars at the festival included Magali Noel, Claudia Cardinale, Gérard Depardieu, and Isabelle Huppert, who received the Excellence award.
The Leopard of Honor was awarded to Abel Ferrara for lifetime achievement in cinema Ferrara received the award on the Piazza Grande in front of a 5,000 person crowd. During his acceptance he unveiled a surprise band and began to sing. After the first song Ferrara kept singing and artistic director Olivier Pere was described as standing by "helplessly". The audience began to yell out and boo, eager to watch the two movies on schedule that night, Friends with Benefits and Attack the Block. Ferrara sung several more songs, and finally walked off smiling. The Guardian speculated that, with his rebellious reputation, Ferrara did it just to amuse himself. Ferrara later denied this saying it was an accident and while on-stage he thought the calls to get him to leave were cheers for an encore.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Back to Stay directed by Milagros Mumenthaler.
Official Jury Paulo Branco, Portuguese film producer, Jury president
Official Sections
The following films were screened in these sections:
Piazza Grande The following films were screened on the Piazza Grande:
Piazza Grande: Prefestival Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Amarcord Federico Fellini 1973 Italy Breakfast at Tiffany's Blake Edwards 1961
Piazza Grande English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production Country 4 Days in May 4 Tage Im Mai Achim Von Borries 2011 GermanyAn American in Paris Vincente Minnelli 1951 USAAttack the Block Joe Cornish 2011 Great Britain Monsieur Lazhar Bachir Lazhar Philippe Falardeau 2011 CanadaCowboys & Aliens Jon Favreau 2011 USADrive Nicolas Winding Refn 2011 USA All Together Et Si On Vivait Tous Ensemble? Stéphane Robelin 2011 FranceFriends with Benefits Will Gluck 2011 USAHeadhunters Morten Tyldum 2011 NorwayHell Tim Fehlbaum 2011 Germany The Art of Love L'Art D'Aimer Emmanuel Mouret 2011 FranceLe Havre Aki Kaurismäki 2011 FinlandRed State Kevin Smith 2011 USA Scabbard Samurai Saya Zamurai Hitoshi Matsumoto 2011 JapanSport De Filles Patricia Mazuy 2011 FranceSuper 8 J. J. Abrams 2011 USA
Piazza Grande: Shorts Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Mourir Auprès De Toi To Die by Your Side Simon Cahn, Spike Jonze 2010 France Romance Georges Schwizgebel 2011 Switzerland
International Competition The following films were screened in the International Competition: Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Abrir Puertas y Ventanas Back to Stay Milagros Mumenthaler 2011 Argentina Another Earth Mike Cahill, Mike Cahill 2010 USA Beirut Hotel Danielle Arbid 2011 Lebanon Crulic - Drumul Spre Dincolo Crulic: The Path to Beyond Anca Damian 2011 Romania Dernière Séance Last Session Laurent Achard 2011 France Din Dragoste Cu Cele Mai Bune Intentii Best Intentions Adrian Sitaru 2011 Romania El Año Del Tigre The Year of the Tiger Sebastián Lelio 2011 Chile HashoterPoliceman Nadav Lapid 2011 Israel Les Chants De Mandrin Smugglers' Songs Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche 2011 France Low Life Nicolas Klotz, Elisabeth Perceval 2011 France Mangrove Frédéric Choffat, Julie Gilbert 2011 Switzerland Onder Ons Among Us Marco Van Geffen 2011 Netherlands Saudade Katsuya Tomita 2011 Japan Sette Opere Di Misericordia Seven Acts of Mercy Massimiliano De Serio, Gianluca De Serio 2011 Italy Tanathur Last Days in Jerusalem Tawfik Abu Wael 2011 Israel Terri Azazel Jacobs 2011 USA The Loneliest Planet Julia Loktev 2011 USA Tokyo Koen Tokyo Park Shinji Aoyama 2011 Japan Un Amour De Jeunesse Goodbye First Love Mia Hansen-Løve 2010 France Vol Spécial Special Flight Fernand Melgar 2011 Switzerland
Filmmakers of the Present The Concorso Cineasti del Presente, also known as the Filmmakers of the Present competition, showcases first and second feature films from emerging filmmakers. The following films were screened in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section:
Filmmakers of the Present Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country El Estudiante The Student Santiago Mitre 2011 Argentina El Árbol De Las Fresas The Strawberry Tree Simone Rapisarda Casanova 2011 Canada Hanaan Ruslan Pak 2011 South Korea Hello! Shu Xian ShengMr. Tree Jie Han 2011 China L'Estate Di Giacomo Summer of Giacomo Alessandro Comodin 2011 Italy Nana Valerie Massadian 2011 France Papirosen Gastón Solnicki 2011 Argentina Señorita Vincent Sandoval 2010 Philippines Solnetchniye DniSunny Days Nariman Turebayev 2011 Kazakhstan Tai Yang Zong Zai Zuo BianThe Sun Beaten Path Sonthar Gyal 2011 China The Color Wheel Alex Ross Perry 2011 USA The Substance - Albert Hofmann's LSD Martin Witz 2011 Switzerland Without Mark Jackson 2011 USA É Na Terra Não É Na Lua It's on Earth it's not on the Moon Gonçalo Tocha 2011 Portugal
Out of Competition The following films were screened out of competition:
Out of Competition: Corpsondences Filmiques Original Title English Title Director(s) Production Country El Senyor Ha Fet En Mi Meravelles The Lord Worked Wonders in Me Albert Serra Spain Sin Título (Carta Para Serra) Untitled (Letter to Serra) Lisandro Alonso Argentina
Out of Competition: Dreileben Original Title English Title Director(s) Production Country Dreileben – Eine Minute Dunkel Dreileben: One Minute of Darkness Christoph Hochhäusler Germany Dreileben – Etwas Besseres Als Den Tod Dreileben: Beats Being Dead Christian Petzold Germany Dreileben – Komm Mir Nicht Nach Dreileben: Don't Follow Me Around Dominik Graf Germany
Out of Competition: Jeonju Digital Project Original Title English Title Director(s) Production Country Aller Au Diable To the Devil Claire Denis South Korea Memories Of A Morning José Luis Guerín South Korea Un Héritier An Heir Jean-Marie Straub France Out of Competition – Feature Films Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country 1 Due 100 Officine 1 Two 100 Workshops Danilo Catti 2011 Switzerland Buenas Noches, España Good Night, Spain Raya Martin 2011 Spain Carte Blanche Heidi Specogna 2011 Switzerland Els Noms De Crist The Names of Christ Albert Serra 2010 Spain Glauser Christoph Kuehn 2011 Switzerland Gotthard Schuh. Una Visione Sensuale Del Mondo Gotthard Schuh. a Sensual Vision of the World Villi Hermann 2011 Switzerland Inconscio Italiano Italian Unconscious Luca Guadagnino 2011 Italy Let The Bullets Fly Wen Jiang 2010 China Milano 55,1. Cronaca Di Una Settimana Di Passioni Milan 55.1. Chronicle of a Week of Passions Luca Mosso, Bruno Oliviero 2011 Italy Ninifuni Aspiring Tetsuya MARIKO 2011 Japan Tahrir Stefano Savona 2011 France
Open Doors The Open Doors section was dedicated to India this year. The following films were screened in the Open Doors section:
Open Doors Satyajit Ray Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Charulata Satyajit Ray 1964 India Joi Baba Felunath The Elephant God Satyajit Ray 1979 India Kapurush The Coward Satyajit Ray 1965 India Mahanagar Satyajit Ray 1964 India Mahapurush Great Man Satyajit Ray 1965 India Nayak Satyajit Ray 1966 India
Open Doors Screenings Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country AagFire Raj Kapoor 1948 India Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai The Catastrophe Jahnu Barua 1987 India Kanasemba Kudureyaneri Riding a Stallion of a Dream Girish Kasaravalli 2010 India Manthan The Churning Shyam Benegal 1976 India Meghe Dhaka Tara The Cloud-Capped Star Ritwik Ghatak 1960 India Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Aparna Sen 2002 India Neecha Nagar Lowly City Chetan Anand 1946 India Nizhalkuthu Adoor Gopalakrishnan 2002 India Prapancha Pash A Throw of Dice Franz Osten 1929 India Pyaasa Guru Dutt 1957 India Udaan Vikramaditya Motwane 2010 India Valu Umesh Kulkarni 2008 India Vanaja Rajnesh Domalpalli 2006 India
Leopards of Tomorrow The following films were screened in the Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani) section:
International Competition International Competition (Concorso Internazionale) – Leopards of Tomorrow Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country At The Formal Andrew Kavanagh 2010 Australia Babyland Marc Fratello 2010 USA Bez Sniegu Snowless Magnus Von Horn 2011 Poland Bora Bora Bogdan Mirica 2011 Romania Brainy Daniel Borgman 2011 Denmark Chupachups Quietly Ji-suk Kyung 2011 South Korea Do You Have A Story? Dario Jurican 2010 Croatia Domingo Violeta Violet Sunday Ana Cristina Barragán 2010 Ecuador Il Respiro Dell'Arco The Breath of the Arch Enrico Maria Artale 2011 Italy Innocente Innocent Samuel Doux 2011 France Jamgyr Aygul Bakanova 2011 Great Britain Just A Perfect Day Evris Papanikolas 2011 Greece La Ronde The Round Sophie Goyette 2011 Canada Les Enfants De La Nuit Night Children Caroline Deruas 2011 France Liberdade Freedom Gabriel Abrantes, Benjamin Crotty 2011 Portugal Links-Rechts Left Right Tom Willems 2010 Belgium Mens Sana In Corpore Sano Mind Sound in a Healthy Body Juliano Dornelles 2011 Brazil Neighbours Josh Levinsky 2011 Great Britain Opowieści Z Chłodni Tales from the Cold Store Grzegorz Jaroszuk 2011 Poland Praça Walt Disney Walt Disney Square Sergio Oliveira, Renata Pinheiro 2011 Brazil Rauschgift Drug Peter Baranowski 2011 Germany Respect Benoit Forgeard 2010 France Ringo Yaara Sumeruk 2011 USA Srak Slip Michal Vinik 2011 Israel Séptimo Seventh Valentina Chamorro 2011 Sweden The Balcony Affair Jamie Cussen 2011 Canada Végtelen Percek Infinite Minutes Cecilia Felméri 2011 Hungary
National Competition National Competition (Concorso Nazionale) – Leopards of TomorrowOriginal titleEnglish titleDirector(s)YearProduction country Alle Werden Everyone will Piet Baumgartner 2011 Switzerland Blitzeis Flash Georg Isenmann 2011 Switzerland Bowling Chez Denise Bowling at Denise Kristina Wagenbauer 2010 Canada Chasse À L'Âne Donkey Hunt Maria Nicollier 2011 Switzerland L'Ambassadeur & Moi The Ambassador & Me Jan Czarlewski 2011 Switzerland Le Début De La Fin The Start of the End Jean-François Vercasson 2011 Switzerland Le Tombeau Des Filles Girls' Tomb Carmen Jaquier 2011 Switzerland Signs & Vibrations Nalia Giovanoli 2011 Switzerland Streifen Strip Moira Himmelsbach 2011 Switzerland Tirages En Série Serial Prints Kevin Haefelin 2011 Switzerland À Quoi Tu Joues What are you Playing Jean-guillaume Sonnier 2011 Switzerland Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani) - Shorts of Artist Shorts of ArtistOriginal titleEnglish titleDirector(s)YearProduction country Boxing In The Philippine Islands Raya Martin 2011 Philippines Sack Barrow Ben Rivers 2011 Great Britain The Cloud Of Unknowing Tzu Nyen Ho 2011 Singapour
Author's Shorts (Corti d'Autore) The following films were screened in the Author's Shorts (Corti d'Autore) section: Original Title English Title Director(s) Production Country Alvorada Vermelha Red Dawn João Rui Guerra da Mata, João Pedro Rodrigues Portugal Camelia Camellia Marian Crisan Romania La Règle De Trois The Rule of Three Louis Garrel France Le Marin Masqué The Masked Sailor Sophie Letourneur France Projet Corrida - 5:30 Corrida Project - 5:30 Marco D'Anna Switzerland Projet Corrida - Corrida, Uno Sguardo Di René Burri Project Corrida - Corrida, a Look of René Burri René Burri, Marco D'Anna Switzerland