For its 75th edition, Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival, long known as a global indie cinema temple, is looking to the future while repositioning itself as a forward-thinking hub for a wider range of movies, including studio and streamer titles, with broad audience appeal.
“We believe that entertainment can be both serious and fun: I don’t see an opposing scenario where entertainment is only cheap, and seriousness is only extremely highbrow,” says the fest’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.
Now on his second edition at the fest’s helm, the Italian critic is putting his stamp on Locarno with a lineup that, along with straightforward auteur movies of various kinds, increasingly includes comedies and genre films. The fest’s eclectic nature is illustrated by t he choice of the opener, Sony ’s frothy action thriller “Bullet Train,” directed by David Leitch, which Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be tubthumping on Aug.
“We believe that entertainment can be both serious and fun: I don’t see an opposing scenario where entertainment is only cheap, and seriousness is only extremely highbrow,” says the fest’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.
Now on his second edition at the fest’s helm, the Italian critic is putting his stamp on Locarno with a lineup that, along with straightforward auteur movies of various kinds, increasingly includes comedies and genre films. The fest’s eclectic nature is illustrated by t he choice of the opener, Sony ’s frothy action thriller “Bullet Train,” directed by David Leitch, which Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be tubthumping on Aug.
- 7/30/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italian critic Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, has assembled what he defines as a “broad, diversified and inclusive program” for the 75th edition of the Swiss event, which will open with “Atomic Blonde” helmer David Leitch’s Brad Pitt-starrer “Bullet Train” screening on its 8,000-seat outdoor Piazza Grande.
The frothy U.S. action film is precisely the type of smart entertainment Nazzaro is becoming known for programming in this temple of European indie cinema, alongside smaller budget titles with more gravitas.
As always, the Locarno selection is a mix of potential discoveries from newcomers and works by known directors, including masters like Russia’s Alexander Sokurov, who is expected to make the trek to unveil his new work “Fairytale,” in competition. Nazzaro spoke to Variety the day after announcing his 2022 lineup about his selection criteria and why he decided not to boycott Sokurov despite...
The frothy U.S. action film is precisely the type of smart entertainment Nazzaro is becoming known for programming in this temple of European indie cinema, alongside smaller budget titles with more gravitas.
As always, the Locarno selection is a mix of potential discoveries from newcomers and works by known directors, including masters like Russia’s Alexander Sokurov, who is expected to make the trek to unveil his new work “Fairytale,” in competition. Nazzaro spoke to Variety the day after announcing his 2022 lineup about his selection criteria and why he decided not to boycott Sokurov despite...
- 7/7/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“My Brilliant Friend” star Margherita Mazzucco is set to play Saint Clare of Assisi in Susanna Nicchiarelli’s new feature film “Chiara” which will conclude the director’s trilogy of female biopics also comprising “Nico, 1988” and “Miss Marx.”
Nicchiarelli’s portrait of the 13th century saint born into a wealthy family who at age 18 became a nun after hearing St. Francis preach is being produced by the director’s regular producers, Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa’s Vivo Film, with Rai Cinema and Belgium’s Tarantula.
Italian actor Andrea Carpenzano (“The Champion”) is also set to star.
“The strength of Chiara’s story lies in her modernity: after all, we are talking about an eighteen year old who, although in a very different context from ours, fights for her dreams,” Nicchiarelli said in a statement. “I am convinced that his story can also speak to the girls and boys of today,...
Nicchiarelli’s portrait of the 13th century saint born into a wealthy family who at age 18 became a nun after hearing St. Francis preach is being produced by the director’s regular producers, Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa’s Vivo Film, with Rai Cinema and Belgium’s Tarantula.
Italian actor Andrea Carpenzano (“The Champion”) is also set to star.
“The strength of Chiara’s story lies in her modernity: after all, we are talking about an eighteen year old who, although in a very different context from ours, fights for her dreams,” Nicchiarelli said in a statement. “I am convinced that his story can also speak to the girls and boys of today,...
- 7/11/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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