Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke will head the jury of this year’s Locarno film festival, which runs August 1-11 in Locarno, Switzerland.
Jia will head a jury that also includes French writer-director Emmanuel Carrère (La Moustache), US director Sean Baker (The Florida Project), Italian director Tizza Covi (Mister Universo) and Italian actress Isabella Ragonese (The First Assignment).
Asian films selected for this year’s Locarno include South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo’s Hotel By The River, Chinese director Ying Liang’s A Family Tour and A Land Imagined by Singapore’s Yeo Siew Hua. All three films are world premieres that will play in the International Competition
Chinese director Qiu Sheng’s Suburban Birds will screen in the Filmmakers of the Present Competition, while the Leopards of the Future section includes Yash Sawant’s A Cold Summer Night (India), Chen Hui’s Zhi Shuo Yi Ci (China) and Renee Zhan’s Reneepoptosis (US-Japan).
Widely regarded as one of the best films of Filipino cinema, Lino Brocka’s Manila In The Claws Of Light (1975) has been selected for the Piazza Grande series of outdoor screenings.
This edition of Locarno marks the last for artistic director Carlo Chatrian, who has been appointed artistic director of Berlin film festival, replacing Dieter Kosslick.