The Locarno Film Festival kicked off yesterday in the Swiss city. As one of Europe’s top festivals, it occupies a special place in the global film calendar.
“Since its inception,” the festival says, “Locarno has been home to the most daring, avant-garde, irreverent and innovative forms of films – screened in their uncut, uncensored versions.”
The festival has been friendly towards African cinema over the years, screening several films from the continent and awarding some of the continent’s filmmakers.
We have compiled some of the films from and about Africa showing at this year’s edition of the festival.
Hanami
Directed by young Cape Verdean director Denise Fernandes, Hanami follows a young girl who’s sent to the foot of a volcano when she comes down with a fever. While getting treated there, she becomes suspended in a liminal space, that’s not quite real. Speaking about the film, Fernandes says, “Growing up in Europe, I noticed that Cape Verde was often omitted from world maps and globes because of its small size. As one way to make it visible, I made Cape Verde and its people the central theme of my first feature film.”
The film is a coproduction credited to Cape Verde, Switzerland, and Portugal.
Punter
South African director Jason Adam Maselle will show his short film Punter in the Pardi di Domani – Concorso Internazionale section. The film is set in Johannesburg and follows a horse-racing bet that doesn’t go as well as planned by the protagonist. The film is shot in Xhosa, Afrikaans, and English.
B(l)ind the Sacrifice
Another South African short film, this one written and directed by Nakhane. A group of people, consisting of a family and their servants, wanders, living as nomads. One day, the events surrounding a blood sacrifice change things for the family. Language: Xhosa.
Samba Traoré
One of two Idrissa Ouedrago pictures showing in the Histoire(s) du Cinéma – Heritage Online section, Samba Traore was released in 1992. From the programme notes: “A co-production between Burkina Faso, France, and Switzerland, Ouédraogo’s masterpiece, about a man who returns to his village with a suitcase of cash after a botched robbery only to find himself consumed by his guilty conscience, has never before been presented in high definition, making this 4K restoration by Cinegrell and Locarno an essential act of preservation for the heritage of African film.”
Les Parias du cinéma
The second film from Idrissa Ouédraogo in the Histoire(s) du Cinéma – Heritage Online section is a short film. From the Locarno programme notes: the director “produced Les Parias du cinéma for the initiative “Half a Century of Locarno, Thoughts on the Future” in 1997. Ouédraogo declined to speak about the state of cinema in general, and instead spoke eloquently about his own films and about the place of African cinema in the contemporary world. Almost three decades later, it is being newly restored by Waka Films.”
Familiar Places
This documentary by director Mala Reinhardt follows her best friend Akosua, a lady of Ghanaian and German origin. Both women grew up in Germany, even as Reinhardt is of Malaysian/Indian descent. Akosua, who’s queer and polyamorous wants a child. Reinhardt follows her for three years, traversing Ghana and Germany. The film shows in Locarno’s Semaine de la Critique section. Language: Twi, German, English.
The Fall (Restored Cut)
A South African coproduction with India and the United Kingdom, The Fall (Restored Cut) is directed by Indian auteur Tarsem. It is set in Hollywood’s silent era. Lee Pace plays a stuntman who befriends a girl when he’s hospitalised. It’s based on the Bulgarian 1981 film, Yo Ho Ho.
