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ONE MORE TIME WITH FEELING
Giona A. Nazzaro ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
E come in un gioioso turbine anche questa 77esima edizione del Festival giunge al termine. Un Festival che resterà scolpito nella memoria di tantissimi appassionati di cinema. Ricco di proposte, di film e di incontri, musica, idee, creatività. Un Festival che assomiglia molto a una possibile idea di mondo che sogniamo e alla quale lavoriamo. Il giro di orizzonte offerto intorno alle cose del cinema allarga ulteriormente lo spettro del possibile. Vedere, giorno dopo giorno, la Piazza, il FEVI, il PalaCinema e gli altri siti di proiezione sempre riempiti di amanti del cinema –una comunità autentica di persone, ancorata nel territorio – è un’emozione che le registe e i registi, i nostri ospiti e le nostre giurie, tutte le invitate e tutti gli invitati, non dimenticheranno facilmente. Giorno dopo giorno, i film hanno dato vita a un tessuto di una ricchezza straordinaria, accogliendo voci ed esperienze da ogni angolo del mondo. Si dice “passione per il cinema” ma si legge “Locarno Film Festival”. E ancora una volta il nostro Festival presenta uno stuolo di nuovi nomi femminili destinati a fare la differenza anche in futuro. Cercateli, se non li avete visti, recuperateli, amateli. Ora inizia un altro festival, altrettanto importante. Quello che porterà i “nostri” film in giro per il mondo mentre noi stiamo già iniziando a progettare la 78esima edizione del Locarno Film Festival. Cinema senza frontiere.
Giona A. Nazzaro
Direttore Artistico
The 78th Locarno Film Festival will take place from 6-16 August 2025
Joshua Althaus, Nadine Curanz, Alex Furgiuele
From the top: Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro hands Jane Campion her Pardo d’Onore Manor.
Saulė Bliuvaitė with her Pardo d’Oro Locarno77. All images: Locarno Film Festival / Ti-Press
I’m really happy to be acknowledged with this award, but I’m also very happy that I’m far from the only one
Saulė Bliuvaitė on her Pardo d’Orowinning Akiplėša
The newly awarded Saulė Bliuvaitė discusses the role of beauty standards and the cost of inhabiting them in a candid conversation with Pardo.
by Savina Petkova
Some films are coming-of-age, while others are a straight jump into it. Akiplėša (Toxic), the first feature by Lithuanian director Saulė Bliuvaitė, is the latter. It follows 13-year-old friends Marija (Vesta Matulytė) and Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė) as they swap back-alley basketball games for modeling classes where there is only one way to win: perfection. With a brave, unapologetic gaze, Akiplėša accompanies the two girls as they set off for war, and the teenage female body is the battleground.
Savina Petkova: Some scenes in Akiplėšamade me remember that I, too, went to a casting call when I was a kid and that it was a traumatic experience I’d repressed. That feeling of not being pretty or skinny enough has stayed with me, so I immediately sympathized with the character of Marija. I want to ask you about the various performances of femininity we see in the film
Saulė Bliuvaitė: I remember watching the documentary Girl Model (2011) and the scenes of girls walking back and forth have stuck in my mind. It’s such a peculiar thing to watch: they repeat this pointless act [the catwalk] numerous times, it triggers me somehow! But as you said, there are some girls who outperform others in how they walk and look, even if everyone’s working with what they were born with. How much pain can you endure to make your body fit that standard and outperform another body? Should you try to be content with your body, or inhabit the projection?
SP: It’s next to impossible to have an answer at age 13, since your body is changing and you’re only just starting to learn how much say others will want to have over it.
SB: Yes, but you know, when you’re 13 or 14, you don’t necessarily think so much about yourself in sexual terms. What strikes me is that these girls become models so young and are instantly perceived as sexual objects. I wanted to show the contrast of how the girls themselves are just actually children without any [sexual] experiences, that they are not there yet, but are being pushed into this. This is the most vulnerable moment when you have someone from outside, like projecting a sexuality that shapes you, because you’re too young to protect yourself from that projection.
SP: I’m always impressed by films that convey how fluid and – frankly – small the world can be in the eyes of a teenager. How did you translate that feeling, visually?
SB: To tell you the truth, making Akiplėša was a really good personal trip for me. Of course, when I was writing the script, I drew from my own experiences at age 13 and those of friends, but the more I was putting these stories on paper, and the more I was discussing them with teenagers nowadays, I started to remember things I had forgotten along the way. I’ve read a lot about repressed memories, but always thought that couldn’t be me… until it was. That said, during the [post-screening] Q&A, someone said that teenagers here, in Switzerland, are not like that, they don’t do things like that, and I was thinking, “You have no idea!” The worst things are, unfortunately, still the ones that nobody sees, or nobody talks about.
SP: How did you work with the teenage girls then, Vesta Matulytė and Ieva Rupeikaitė and the others? They are of a different generation than ours and you speak with care about the process of making the film, but was there anything you learnt from them?
We lived in such a small, small, small place, and here I was, standing in this huge, huge hall with people waiting to see a story about things we – me and the girls I knew back then – had been through
SB: Yes! It was special sharing all of it with the girls and connecting with their generation, which I felt like I knew nothing about before. We spent a lot of time together and during rehearsal, we developed a connection and cultivated a kind of openness respecting not only the guidelines we had on set, but also our shared personal understanding. I would emphasize that if they were not comfortable with something, they knew to tell me right away: I was very sensitive about how things were happening on set. But they would always tell me, you know? Like other girls from that generation, they’re more likely to speak up about stuff – and I feel that is the main difference between them and us, when we were teenagers.
SP: The film premiere was just a couple of nights ago, but then and there, how did it feel?
SB: Honestly, I was overwhelmed! It’s all I could dream of: to make this film, to travel to Locarno… but it was emotional for me, personally. At one point, I was looking at the audience in the [Palexpo FEVI] cinema and the rows seemed endless when an image of the flat I grew up in flashed through my mind. My room there was so tiny that it only fit two beds, for me and my sister: we lived in such a small, small, small place, and here I was, standing in this huge, huge hall with people waiting to see a story about things we – me and the girls I knew back then – had been through! I think it was also one of the first times in my life when I felt thankful to myself: I made this film the way I wanted to and was brave enough to tell these stories in a way that could make people question them, call them “exaggerated” or “too dark”, but I’m glad I did it.
SP: And now you have the Pardo d’Oro to remind you of that moment! How do you feel right now?
SB: I don’t think I can process or imagine it yet, because it’s completely uncharted territory for me. I feel like I’m a character from the film myself! [laughs] I keep thinking I’ll wake up any second now and it will be this morning, when I was planning to do nothing and go see the lake!
SP: Do you see this win as a good sign for our times, when it comes to the future of festivals, cinema, art in general?
SB: Lately, there have been more and more female directors around and I love watching films and reading books by women. I don’t necessarily pick female writers or directors [in my own reading and viewing], but it often happens now that a very good work of art is made by a woman. I was missing that growing up, and I’m sure watching so many films made from the male perspective has somehow shaped my way of looking – but all the while, I wanted to see stories that were about my mother, my sister, or myself, you know? I simply wasn’t seeing myself there. So yes, I’m really happy to be acknowledged with this award, but I’m also very happy that I’m far from the only one. I hope it’s not going to stop anytime soon!
Uniti dall'amore per i film.
Grande cinema in Piazza Grande o a casa, con blue TV.
Pronti, insieme.
CONCORSO CINEASTI DEL PRESENTE WINNERS LIST
JURY MEMBERS: C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, Lina Soualem, Charles Tesson
TBILISI UNPLUGGED
HOLYELECTRICITY director Tato Kotetishvili on winning the Pardo d’Oro – Concorso Cineasti del Presente by Laurine Chiarini
Laurine Chiarini: First of all, congratulations! What does it mean to you to receive an award at Locarno? And for the future of your career?
Tato Kotetishvili: This is an important step to me – I am very happy. It also means that the jury was receptive to what I wanted to show. The award will help draw attention to my work, and might open up new doors. Receiving this award is great, but I’m still in a bit of a daze at the moment.
LC: You have worked on several films as a cinematographer, and made two shorts as a director. HOLYELECTRICITY is your first feature film. How did you juggle the roles of director, screenwriter, producer and director of photography?
TK: I worked on the script beforehand with other screenwriters. Filming was organized so as to make my life as easy as possible, without additional lighting indoors and with a fixed camera most of the time, so that I could concentrate on the actors. I wanted a small, intimate shoot at my own rhythm, so it was easier to produce the movie myself at the beginning.
LC: Despite addressing difficult topics in the film like losing a parent or facing discrimination as a transgender man, the narrative maintains a respectful distance, without falling into pity or excessive tenderness. How did you achieve this balance in your storytelling?
TK: This is how I look at people: I try not to judge, nor to criticize. It came out quite naturally.
LC: After the fall of the USSR, some “new entrepreneurs” made a fortune overnight. In the movie, it seems that this ‘dream’ is still alive today with Bart [Nikolo Ghviniashvili] and Gonga [Nika Gongadze] trying to sell their neon crosses in Tbilisi, even though the reality is much less rosy. Is this also an aspect of post-Soviet life you wanted to show?
TK: It’s totally like this: everybody likes to dream and would like to make it. Everybody has a [business] idea and thinks they will be rich and successful, but it doesn’t work out. When I was younger, it was the same – I had these kinds of ideas myself. Now my brother does.
LC: Transitioning between scenes, the sound precedes the image: most dialogue starts off-screen, and we only see who’s talking a few seconds later. How did you use sound-image disjunction to create a ‘nested’ narrative in your editing process?
TK: My editor, Nodar Nozadze, had already used this technique in his previous works. It’s like a fade-in of sound, preparing you for the next shot. It makes everything more whole. Selle Sellink, the sound designer, taught me a lot. I didn’t know anything at the beginning, and we would explore possibilities together. I was lucky to learn so much – it was like attending film school.
LC: The score itself is very organic. Apart from the same tune we hear in the opening and closing credits, and once in the middle of the film, the music comes from the characters, who sing or play an instrument. Can you tell me more about how you desi-
JURY STATEMENT
“A truly original work that announces the filmmaker as a force in clear terms. A love letter to his people and a very generous film that brilliantly avoids clichés by centering diversity, with humor and boldly innovative choices.”
The Pardo d’Oro Concorso Cineasti del Presente goes to: HOLY ELECTRICITY by TATO KOTETISHVILI
gned the soundtrack and the role of the lyrics, which often echo the difficulties the protagonists are going through?
TK: Most of the songs are by Georgian [rock, country, and folk] musician Vaqo. For instance, for the music in the scene where the characters are dreaming, we were looking for emotion and energy. Then, as we listened to the songs, it just so happened that the lyrics also matched [the scenes]. They also resonate emotionally – it works even if you don’t understand the words. [Editor] Nodar Nozadze, who is a musician, also helped me a lot with the music. He is very creative, surrounded by a lot of instruments. He can whip up a tune just after hearing a few notes. Working with him was amazing.
LC: The camera is discreet, filming the main characters primarily in static, medium shots. As a cinematographer, how do you decide where to place it?
TK: Initially, I aimed to shoot every scene in one shot, but I was open to change. During editing, I realized the need for some close-ups, but I avoided taking too many in order to give the actors space to move and express themselves physically. The Roma girl, especially, has a very expressive body language that I wanted to capture.
LC: You worked with nonprofessional actors in the film. How did you cast and direct them?
TK: The casting process took a long time. For me, the most important quality in an actor is energy, and the hardest part was finding the right people. I adapted the script to include elements from their lives, and their names in the film are their real ones. They were natural in front of the camera, and had room to improvise. This approach added a naturalistic, documentary-like feel to the film. The character of Bart was initially written as a man, but after getting to know Nikolo [Ghviniashvili], I suggested he play a transgender man. When he tells Gonga about his childhood, it’s his real personal story.
DENISE FERNANDES:
“Mi sento un po’ accompagnata dal Pardo”
Pardo ha parlato con la giovane regista, vincitrice del Premio Cineasti del Presente per la miglior regia emergente, e della Menzione Speciale First Feature. di Alessandro De Bon
Alessandro De Bon: Hanami è il tuo primo lungometraggio: come ti senti ad avere un Pardo lì accanto a te e ad aver ricevevuto il Premio per la miglior regia emergente – Città e Regione di Locarno, in una sezione così prestigiosa come quella dei Cineasti del Presente?
Denise Fernandes: Non mi aspettavo di ricevere un Pardo e non sapevo che il mio premio avrebbe avuto questa forma. Sono un po’ sorpresa, ma allo stesso tempo mi rassicura ricevere questo riconoscimento che significa davvero tanto per tutti coloro che hanno partecipato al film. Voglio condividere questo premio con tutti i miei collaboratori. So che vivrò ancora momenti di grande emozione e sono molto grata e felice!
ADB: Questo è un premio importante anche per la tua carriera, sei d’accordo?
DF: Non sono abituata a ricevere premi, quindi attribuisco un grande valore a questo riconoscimento. Sono molto curiosa di vedere se e come questo Pardo mi aiuterà a evolvere come cineasta. Per me questo film, in un certo senso, si conclude proprio qui a Locarno, ma allo stesso tempo, spero che, da oggi in poi, si apra al mondo. Mi sento un po’ accompagnata dal Pardo. Tutto ciò che accadrà è ancora una sorpresa!
ADB: Cosa pensi abbia convinto la giuria a darti un premio per Hanami? Cosa c’è di universale nella la tua storia?
DF: Credo che sia io, sia le persone che hanno lavorato con me per creare questo film e gli attori – la maggior parte dei quali non sono professionisti, ma semplicemente abitanti dell’isola –malgrado le enormi sfide che abbiamo dovuto affrontare, ci siamo tutti sentiti molto uniti nella missione di portare alla luce questa storia e abbiamo cercato di farlo con sincerità. Sono molto fiera del mio team e dei miei attori e forse dobbiamo questo riconoscimento al fatto di avere cercato di essere il più sinceri possibile nel nostro racconto.
ADB: Congratulazioni!
DF: Grazie mille!
A SPECIAL MENTION GOES TO: FEKETE PONT (Lesson Learned) by BÁLINT SZIMLER
A SPECIAL MENTION GOES TO: KADA JE ZAZVONIO TELEFON (When the Phone Rang) by IVA RADIVOJEVIĆ
THE PARDO FOR BEST PERFORMANCE GOES TO: CALLIE HERNANDEZ for INVENTION
JURY STATEMENT
“To a performance that brilliantly blurs the lines between fiction and reality, behind and in front of the camera, while encapsulating the essence of grieving and reconciliation with a lost loved one.”
THE PARDO FOR BEST PERFORMANCE GOES TO: ANNA MÉSZÖLY for FEKETE PONT
JURY STATEMENT
“To an actress, who embodies through her character and her acting the helplessness of an individual facing a system that crushes any tentative of hope or change.”
NEITHER POSTCARD NOR GREEN HELL
Koutévwadirector Maxime Jean-Baptiste on winning the Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
JURY STATEMENT
“We are confronted with a film that trusts in the power of images and directing to tell a young girl’s story from birth to adolescence. A film that knows how fairy tales can instill a poetical dimension to a story built around a strong attachment both to a unique natural environment and to family links and foundations with an honest and discreet gaze on the sensitiveness of human beings.”
The Best Emerging Director Award City and Region of Locarno goes to: DENISE FERNANDES for HANAMI “ JURY STATEMENT
“Through an intimate personal family drama, a film that reveals the reality of a whole territory that is rarely filmed and which French cinema has always ignored.”
The Special Jury Prize CINÉ+ goes to: KOUTÉ VWA by MAXIME JEAN-BAPTISTE
Alessandro De Bon: So, a prize. How do you feel? And what do you think convinced the jury to give this story a prize? What is universal in this very specific story, set in a very specific place?
Maxime Jean-Baptiste: I’m so honored, I’m so happy. It was a long journey, this film. It was five years. So, it’s very personal. We went through so many emotions; so many versions of the film. The filmmaking process was also quite hybrid, because we were working with real people, with real stories. It’s not pure fiction from the imagination. It’s really based on their stories. So it was not easy to for them open the wounds of such a trauma. They did it, but it was really hard. I’m happy that the cast was here some days ago, and that was really the most important thing for me. I’m so happy to be in Locarno – but this [prize] is also for them, for their stories. The huge gift for me is their happiness.
ADB: There is so much love for French Guiana in this movie. There is so much pride, so much will to change things. It’s really touching.
MJB: Thank you. It’s not really said in the film, but this is my family, so I’m really close to them – but I preferred to go [in the direction of] fiction – as in, okay, it’s a family story, but it’s also a story that could speak to many other people: when you lose someone like that, through murder, how you process it, how you grieve. It was good for me to go towards fiction, to have some distance, but yeah, it’s my family. It’s also my country. So yes, I have a lot of love. I’m not ‘exploring’ French Guiana – it’s not a space of exploration [for me], because it’s in me. And there are also a lot of other emotions [besides love] in the film, because it is also going through feelings of fear, of revenge. But yeah, love is kind of a way to continue to live and not let down what we have.
ADB: Do you hope that this prize will help you to tell other stories?
MJB: Yeah, this is an honor for me, for my career, and [makes me] trust my own choices, because the film has a very specific form. It goes in many directions, and sometimes we are not used to that [as viewers] – we are used to films that might have a form that is quite dry. I’m happy that this multivocal, multiform work can be heard, can be accepted, and can get a prize. It’s amazing. And it’s also an honor for my country. Like, yes, we can continue to make films. We are not just a movie set – our country is a movie set for many directors since the Hollywood films of the ’40s and ’50s. They go to French Guiana – for Amazonia, for the gold, for the mountains, for the forest, and it’s very beautiful. And it’s always stories about adventurers going there, having a hard time: the “Green Hell”. But it’s not only about that. It’s also about our communities, our way of having emotions. And for me, this prize, and just being here in Locarno gives me hope to continue – [and validation] that we have stories to tell and we don’t need to be just a postcard for other people. ◼ by Alessandro De Bon
SWATCH FIRST FEATURE AWARD
CHF 15,000 to the director
In support of auteur cinema, this is an award given to a promising filmmaker venturing for the first time into the world of feature filmmaking, with a prize total of CHF 15,000 given to a director whose film is showing in Locarno as a world or international premiere.
“At Swatch, we believe that art makes the world a better place. As a main partner of the Locarno Film Festival, we once again underline our commitment to supporting emerging talent in the creative arts. Since 2015, we have proudly promoted the work of upcoming filmmakers through the Swatch First Feature Award, encouraging them to push the boundaries of creativity and redefine filmmaking.”
Alain Villard (CEO
Swatch)
The 2024 Swatch First Feature Award goes to Akiplėša by Saulė Bliuvaitė
Against a backdrop of industrial decay, two teenage girls navigate the path of young adulthood. Marija (Vesta Matulytė) and Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė) bond over painted jeans, disdain for their surroundings, and curiosity for what awaits them in the world of grown-ups. Desperate to leave behind a life of backyard games, they enroll in a modeling school that promises fulfillment in exchange for beauty. It seems like a fair trade: thinness for confidence; youth for a career. Akiplėša(Toxic) marks Lithuanian director Saulė Bliuvaitė’s feature debut, but the filmmaker alre-
ady possesses the honesty of an experienced storyteller and the formal rigor of a seasoned auteur. Seen through the uncompromising lens of cinematographer Vytautas Katkus, the girls’ attempt to break free looks far from dreamy. The film’s wide shots feel even more claustrophobic than the close-ups that frame young female bodies as foreign objects to be assessed and modified by others. At 13, Marija and Kristina are impatient for real life to begin, a strong enough reason to embark on an increasingly dangerous quest for perfection.
MUBI AWARD DEBUT FEATURE
CHF 10,000 to be shared equally between the director and the producer
A new prize for exceptional emerging voices, given to the best debut feature in Locarno’s Official Program. The award celebrates boldly distinctive visions for storytelling and the aesthetic possibilities of the medium, spotlighting the new films that will shape the future of cinema.
The MUBI Award – Debut Feature goes to
Green Line by Sylvie Ballyot
The wooden figurines featured in Sylvie Ballyot’s Green Line resemble a child’s playthings – but they are used to illustrate a narrative that is the opposite of playful. This documentary slash memory piece probes the psychic wounds left by the Lebanese Civil War (1975 – 1990), the brutal culmination of tensions between the region’s various religious groups.
The “Green Line” of the title denotes the primary line of confrontation that ran through Beirut, dividing the territory of Christian factions from those of Muslim factions and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. These intramural conflicts were beyond the ken of Fida Bizri, then just a child, and the focal point of the film: her memories of the war are staged using the figurines, enabling the adult Fida to confront the militiamen whose actions haunt her, and to address fellow eyewitnesses to the violence. Though not the first collaboration between Ballyot and Bizri, GreenLineis the most painfully personal. It is an inventive and moving work of drama therapy and a crucial document of collective remembrance – one that offers a damning refraction of present conflict.
“To the schoolgirl Fida was then, all sides were just as menacing and dreadful, and their guns and bullets just as life-threatening. And it is that same girl who now questions them (but never censors or judges them), demanding that they instead look her in the eye and speak about their involvement in the war.”
Pamela Biénzobas, Selection Committee
Sylvie Ballyot
Stills from Green Line
Prix du Public UBS
THE BIGGEST JURY IN THE WORLD!
For more than 20 years, everyone with a ticket for a Piazza Grande screening has been invited to vote for their favorite film shown on Europe’s largest outdoor screen. In 2024, all participants get the chance to win Festival Passes to Locarno78 in 2025, and are also entered into the final gift voucher prize draw for an unforgettable holiday in Switzerland. The winning film, meanwhile, will receive a cash prize of CHF 30,000 – as awarded at the Piazza Grande tonight, August 17. Giving space to the voice of the audience is an integral part of the longstanding partnership UBS has had with the Locarno Film Festival since 1981.
Electric Child
Illustration by Natasha Goncharova
TheSeedoftheSacredFig Illustration by Sarah Ghorishi
Mexico 86
Illustration by Marcelo Granero
Rita Illustration by Carolina Altavilla
Timestalker Illustration by Vinz Schwarzbauer
LeDéluge
Illustration by Olga Prader
Fiore mio
Illustration by Marco Quadri
Reinas Illustration by Soña Lee
Sauvages
Illustration by Ursula Bucher
Gaucho Gaucho
Illustration by Nick Dahlen
Shambhala
Illustration by Giacomo Nanni
la cultura in prima fila
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Pardi di Domani Winners
After nine days of screenings, Pardi di Domani, the Festival’s sidebar dedicated to short and medium length films, has come to an end. Jury members Licia Eminenti, Laza, and Juliette Schrameck faced the daunting task of picking this year’s winners; the three they crowned with a Pardino d’Oro (Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film, Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film, and Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film) are luminous testaments to the vitality of the form.
UPSHOT
Jury statement: “For the short’s cinematic gesture – at once accomplished, humanist, and dignified in the face of the black hole of injustices and wars. And because the memory of our loved ones cannot be killed, cancelled, or erased but makes us even more alive, the Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film goes to UPSHOT by Maha Haj.”
Somewhere in Palestine, in a house nestled amidst olive fields, Suleiman (Mohammad Bakri) and Mona (Areen Omari) live a simple life. While he prunes the trees, she takes care of the chickens. Clad in black from head to toe, the two converse sparingly, except when it comes to the subject of their children. One of their sons doesn’t know what to do with his life, much to the parents’ dismay. One of their daughters should continue her studies and travel the world, Suleiman believes – a vision Mona does not share. Their tranquil routine is disrupted the day Khalil (Amer Hlehel) shows up at their doorstep – a journalist and former classmate of their son Khaled, eager to hear what he calls “their side” of the story, an ominously vague request.
“In the future… somewhere,” a title card states at the beginning of UPSHOT. Maha Haj’s short could almost be set now, in the midst of a conflict that’s left countless families decimated. Entombed in their sorrow, unable to articulate their grief, Suleiman and Mona had to craft their own narrative to survive, a version of the events that unravels as soon as the journalist arrives. With exemplary sensitivity and restraint, Haj gives a voice to all those who can no longer speak.
WAShhh
Jury statement: “Violence does not belong to the gender, but to the status, role, and uniform of those who wage it. For the excellence of this cinematic work, a ‘flawless’ for us, and for the scream of revolt we need everywhere in the world, the Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film goes to WASHHH, by Mickey Lai.”
Shot in stark black-and-white and framed in tightly composed shots, Mickey Lai’s third short film captures the oppressive nature of a Malaysian National Service camp, where young female trainees endure the commands coming from the top. During one grueling night, the girls are forced to wash all stained sanitary pads. “Good hygiene is the basis of every religion,” the camp leader states – in order to keep bad spirits away, everything has to be cleaned. Lai based her screenplay on her own experiences in a similar camp, where she served when she was 18. What her film starkly reveals is how these hierarchical structures often fail to produce solidarity or even uniformity between the girls, rather amplifying the differences in religion and ethnicity amongst them. The superstition that uncleanliness attracts bad spirits turns the camp into a claustrophobic space, with the building functioning as a kind of vacuum, sucking out the oxygen. There’s an irony here that WAShhh explores deftly: it’s not the bad spirits, but the authoritarian repression that haunts these girls.
PARDO VERDE WINNER
Ala Eddine Slim: “For me, animals are somewhat above humans”
The Agora director discusses human-animal relationships in a world that needs saving
by Savina Petkova
Savina Petkova: Your film has received the Pardo Verde, in recognition for the way Agora might inspire real-world change through its alternative approaches to storytelling. How do you see the role of animals and nature in that?
Ala Eddine Slim: Maybe you can say that the animals feel and live through the situation depicted in the film, that they know what’s happening to the humans even better than the humans themselves do. For me, animals are somewhat above humans in that sense, but at the same time, you could also say that it’s all happening in the animals’ imagination. That said, this is not a definite answer, it’s just something I’m wondering about.
SP: Your film offers a view of the fall of humanity, but there’s also some hope in it, too.
AES: As far as hope is concerned, I don’t think we can allow ourselves to be too optimistic that we as humans are going to find a solution to the current state of the world. At the same time, no one is going to come and save us, so we have to find one. If I show things in my films that are hard to watch – if, for example, I show how cruel human beings can be to each other, or to nature – it’s because I want to avoid that [cruelty]. I try to do things on my own scale. Obviously, I’m not going to be a beacon of light in the dark for everyone else out there, but I do have a commitment [to act] to the extent that I can.
SansVoix
Jury statement: “For its visual creativity, its ability to give nuances to so many different kinds of solitude and so many ways to try and escape them. For the awareness that comes from pain but also in its absence, and the maturity of a film that left us speechless, the Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film goes to SANS VOIX by Samuel Patthey.”
As fragmented as Samuel Patthey’s animation film initially seems, Sans Voix eventually gives way to a surprisingly cohesive depiction of a young man stuck in the grooves of an existential crisis. Brief moments of introspection interrupt the more mundane activities of life – laundry and the like. Flashbacks to yesterday’s rave disrupt a morning commute to work; moments of loneliness are amplified by sudden bouts of yearning. This is a man going through a lot, and he’s doing it all by himself.
But then, the music starts: Patthey edits his playful visuals entirely around the enveloping techno track that gives voice to Sans Voix’s voiceless protagonist. The thumping bass and skittering synthesizer riffs steer his life in new directions, lifting him out of his somewhat miserable life and into new and more profound experiences. Sans Voix captures this fluidity of life with the most beautiful and creative animated sequences, which morph into each other much like memories do when you look back at a past life.
SP: What is the responsibility of a filmmaker in that case?
AES: Since I’m not sure whether we as humans can actually save our own species, I see myself more as a believer in nature. I think nature is already showing us what it needs through all the environmental catastrophes we’ve witnessed, for example. It’s taking its revenge, so to speak. As for myself, I have daughters, and I’m afraid for them and what their future might look like on this planet. I have a duty to remain optimistic – up to a certain point – but at the same time, I’m not going to show you a rosy world where everything is fine. I refuse to say we’re all good because, no, we’ve almost destroyed the world, even when there are so many people, so many organizations, and so many voices that have spoken up to warn us about the kind of future we’re heading into. It’s about time we listen to them and face what’s going on, fully.
Community is at the heart of everything we do at Letterboxd, which makes the Piazza Grande as close as we can get to a real-life manifestation of that. The winner of our inaugural Letterboxd Piazza Grande prize understands this mission deeply: a film that invites our global audience into a new world, gently, fleetingly, asking us to get to know a microcosm of a culture that may not be our own, but that welcomes us with open arms. Our winner tells an original, precise story, while honoring the greatest pioneering genres of cinema history: the subtlety of silent-era comedy, the wide-open ambition of the Western, the contemporary grasp on evocative cinematography that has turned the music video into an art form in its own right. This film will connect members of our community from around the world in a common space, albeit unfamiliar. As one Letterboxd member writes, “I love films that remind me that life is long and the world is big.” Cinema everywhere, for everyone, forever.
Ella Kemp, London Editor at Letterboxd
©Samuel Patthey
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