{"id":187521,"date":"2024-07-18T16:17:24","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T14:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iffr.com\/en\/?p=187521"},"modified":"2024-08-19T16:12:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T14:12:04","slug":"blog-locarno-2024-iffr-backed-titles-in-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iffr.com\/en\/blog-locarno-2024-iffr-backed-titles-in-competition","title":{"rendered":"Locarno 2024: IFFR-backed titles in competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Four IFFR-backed titles will have their world premieres at the Locarno Film Festival, which takes place from 7 to 17 August 2024. Titles by Ala Eddine Slim, Wang Bing, Tato Kotetishvili and Jessica Sarah Rinland feature in the festival\u2019s two competition lineups, supported by IFFR\u2019s Hubert Bals Fund and presented at IFFR Pro\u2019s CineMart and Darkroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: HOLY ELECTRICITY<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Concorso Internazionale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Titles in the festival\u2019s flagship competition compete for the prestigious Pardo d\u2019Oro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agora<\/strong> dir. Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ala Eddine Slim, whose award-winning, atmospherically charged titles The Last of Us <\/strong>(2016) and Tlamess<\/strong> (2019) both screened at IFFR, presents his latest Agora<\/strong>, which was supported for post-production through the HBF+Europe<\/a> scheme. In the film, which takes place in the dreams of a dog and a crow, three missing people mysteriously return to a remote town in Tunisia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update: Agora<\/strong> was awarded the Pardo Verde, annually presented to “the film that best reflects an ecological issue, offering audiences new and challenging interpretations that inspire change.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Agora<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Youth (Hard Times) <\/strong>dir. Wang Bing, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last year, filmmaker Wang Bing presented the monumental documentary Youth (Spring<\/strong>) in competition at Cannes, depicting the gruelling work of young textile workers in the Chinese city of Zhili, 150 km from Shanghai. He continues his compelling portrait with Youth (Hard Times)<\/strong>. The project was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund for development, and as a Dutch co-production through the NFF+HBF Co-production Scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update: Youth (Hard Times)<\/strong> received a special mention during the presentation of the awards in the Concorso Internazionale.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Youth (Hard Times)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Concorso Cineasti del Presente<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First or second features can compete in the Cineasti del Presente competition for \u201cradical, uncompromising, adventurous\u201d cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOLY ELECTRICITY<\/strong> dir. Tato Kotetishvili, Georgia, Netherlands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From Georgia comes Tato Kotetishvili\u2019s debut HOLY ELECTRICITY<\/strong>: a darkly comedic tale of LED crucifix salesmen in Tbilisi. The film was presented in IFFR Pro\u2019s work-in-progress programme Darkroom<\/a> at IFFR 2023, after it had been presented at CineMart 2021 as part of the BoostNL programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was supported through Development Support from the Hubert Bals Fund, and later with HBF+Europe: Post-production funds. The filmmaker’s charming short, Ogasavara<\/strong>,<\/a> was presented at IFFR 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before its Darkroom presentation, we spoke to HOLY ELECTRICITY<\/strong> co-producer Ineke Smits. Read it below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t