The 74th edition of the Locarno Film Festival announces its 2021 lineup, with 12 films in its Piazza Grande selection, and 17 competing in the International Competition. The lineup includes Gaspar Noé’s Vortex after its Cannes premiere, the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, and perpetual trailer plague upon movie theaters for the past two years Free Guy. Highlights include a fifth feature film from Abel Ferrara in the past two years, Zeros and Ones, new films from Axelle Ropert and Bertrand Mandico, and Rose from Aurélie Saada, a debut feature after her work on Frenglish teen comedy Foon, an inexplicable cult classic among some of our writers. The Swiss festival will be held in person from August 4th-14th.
PIAZZA GRANDE
BECKETT Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (Italy)
HINTERLAND Stefan Ruzowitzky (Austria, Luxembourg)
MONTE VERITA 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)
ZEROES 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)