Locarno Film Festival 2009

Throughout its 62 year history, the Locarno International Film Festival has occupied a unique position in the landscape of the major film festivals. Every August, approximately 180,000 cinephiles, 1,100 journalists and 3,400 professionals converge on the small Swiss-Italian town of Locarno, right in the heart of Europe, which becomes the world capital of auteur cinema for eleven days.

Geographically located at the crossroads of three major regions of Switzerland, with an audience that reflects these three major European cultures (Italian, German and French), the Locarno Festival has made an asset of its special situation. Its long-standing tradition of openness and dialogue have made it an ideal platform for the promotion of national cinemas from Europe and the world over, from South America to Asia. Locarno knows no borders, neither geographic, thematic or stylistic, and via its dozen different sections welcomes all kinds of films, and all kinds of formats.

Locarno provides a convivial and informal ambiance, a good-time festival, where, together, the public, professionals and creative talents alike come to get a taste of the youth and vitality of contemporary cinema. Far reaching in its quest both for innovation and films to inspire the imagination, the Locarno International Festival lives through and for cinema, tirelessly fostering respect and eagerness for both films and filmmakers.

Dates: August 5-15, 2009
Location: Locarno, Switzerland

Below is the entire schedule for the event, released by Variety.

PIAZZA GRANDE
500 Days of Summer, Marc Webb, U.S. (opener)
Blue Sofa (short), Giuseppe Baresi, Pippo Delbono, Lara Fremder, Italy
The Two Horses of Genghis Khan (closer), Byambasuren Davaa, Germany
Giulias Verschwinden, Christoph Schaub, Switzerland
La Guerre des fils de la lumiere contre les fils des tenebres, Amos Gitai, France
The Valley, Mihaly Gyorik, Switzerland-Italy-Hungary
Les Derniers jours du monde, Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu, France-Spain-Taiwan
Les Yeux de Simone (short), Jean-Louis Porchet, Switzerland-France
My Sister’s Keeper, Nick Cassavetes, U.S.
Petit Indi, Marc Recha, Spain-France
Pom Poko, Isao Takahata, Japan
Redline, Takeshi Koike, Japan
Same Same but Different, Detlev Buck, Germany
Sounds and Silence, Norbert Wiedmer and Peter Guyer, Switzerland
Unter Bauern — Retter In Der Nacht, Ludi Boeken, Germany-France

PIAZZA GRANDE MANGA NIGHT
Mobile Suit Gundam, Ryoji Fujiwara and Yoshiyuki Tomino, Japan
La Maison en petits cubes (short), Kunio Kato, Japan
First Squad: The Moment of Truth, Yoshiharu Asino, Misha Shprits and Aljoscha Klimov, Canada-Russia-Germany

INTL. COMPETITION
A Religiosa portuguesa, Eugene Green, Portugal-France
Akadimia Platonos, Filippos Tsitos, Greece-Germany
Au voleur, Sarah Leonor, France
Buben Baraban, Aleksei Mizgiryov, Russia
Complices, Frederic Mermoud, France-Switzerland
Frontier Blues, Babak Jalali, Iran-U.K.-Italy
La Cantante de tango, Diego Martinez Vignatti, Belgium-Argentina
La Donation, Bernard Emond, Canada
La Invencion de la carne, Santiago Loza, Argentina
L’insurgee, Laurent Perreau, France
Nothing Personal, Urszula Antoniak, Netherlands-Ireland
The Famous and the Dead, Esmir Filho, Brazil-France
At the End of Daybreak, Ho Yuhang, Malaysia-Hong Kong-South Korea
She, a Chinese, Xiaolu Guo, U.K.-France-Germany
Shirley Adams, Oliver Hermanus, South Africa-U.S.
Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosoda, Japan
The Search, Pema Tseden, China
Where Are You?, Masahiro Kobayashi, Japan

OUT OF COMPETITION
La Paura, Pippo Delbono, France

FILMMAKERS OF THE PRESENT COMPETITION
A fuga, a raiva, a danca, a bunda, a boca, a calma, a vida da mulher gorilla, Felipe Braganca and Marina Meliande, Brazil
Castro, Alejo Moguillansky, Argentina
Greetings From the Woods, Mikel Cee Karlsson, Sweden
Ivul, Andrew Kotting, France-Switzerland
Warriors of Love, Simon Staho, Denmark
Men on the Bridge, Asli Ozge, Germany-Turkey-Netherlands
La Reine des pommes, Valerie Donzelli, France
Mirna, Corso Salani, Italy
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, Mizuho Nishikubo, Japan
Nikotoko Island, Takuya Dairiki and Takashi Miura, Japan
October Country, Michael Palmieri and Donald Mosher, U.S.
Piombo Fuso, Stefano Savona, Italy
Sogno il mondo il venerdi, Pasquale Marrazzo, Italy
The Anchorage, C.W. Winter and Anders Edstrom, U.S.
The Marsdreamers, Richard Dindo, Switzerland-France
Todos mienten, Matias Pineiro, Argentina
Un Transport en commun, Dyana Gaye, France

Find out more about the Locarno Film Festival at www.pardo.ch.