{"id":210839,"date":"2025-08-05T17:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iffr.com\/en\/?p=210839"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:27:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:27:42","slug":"blog-locarno-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iffr.com\/en\/blog-locarno-2025","title":{"rendered":"Locarno world premieres for HBF, CineMart and Darkroom films\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five IFFR-backed films celebrate their premieres in Locarno, tracing journeys across remote landscapes and inner worlds: from football fields and villages in rural Georgia, to the wilderness of Tierra del Fuego, the mountains of Bosnia, coming of age in a Kazakh swimming team, and to Bucharest in search of a Serbian singer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Becoming<\/strong> by Zhannat Alshanova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two of the films were presented in the 2025 edition of IFFR Pro\u2019s work-in-progress platform Darkroom, with three titles backed by the Hubert Bals Fund, including two Netherlands minority co-productions backed through the NFF+HBF scheme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Locarno\u2019s main international competition<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desire Lines<\/strong>, Dane Komljen, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Netherlands, Croatia, Germany \u2013 HBF Development 2018, NFF+HBF 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Balancing fairy-tale and horror, Bosnian filmmaker Dane Komljen describes his third feature as \u201ca film about walking, moving, and shapeshifting”, following its protagonist Branko as he wanders Belgrade\u2019s fringes before venturing into the mountains. For the later locations, he shot in remote rural Bosnia, known to be a migration route into Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project received Development Support from the Hubert Bals Fund in 2018, and was later backed by NFF+HBF, the partnership between the HBF and the Netherlands Film Fund, providing co-production funding through Dutch co-producer SeriousFilm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Desire Lines<\/strong> by Dane Komljen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As well as screening numerous shorts at IFFR, Komljen\u2019s first feature All the Cities Of the North<\/strong> screened at IFFR 2017, and was also supported by the Hubert Bals Fund. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with SEE NL<\/a>, the film\u2019s Netherlands-based Serbian producer Nata\u0161a Damnjanovi\u0107 of Dart Film described the HBF as \u201cone of the most open-minded film funds out there\u2026nowadays one of the very rare islands where there is still care and understanding for arthouse film. In that sense, I would say the Netherlands is a very important partner for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dry Leaf<\/strong>, Alexandre Koberidze, Germany, Georgia \u2013 Darkroom 2025<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Winner: Special Mention \u2013 Concorso Internazionale<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa vanishes without a trace while photographing rural football stadiums in villages across Georgia. Alexandre Koberidze\u2019s Dry Leaf<\/strong> is the journey of her father Irakli who sets out to find her, traveling from place to place in search of her traces \u2013 like the unpredictable descent of a dry leaf in the wind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work-in-progress was presented at Darkroom 2025, as part of a special platform for Georgian filmmakers amid the urgent political situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Dry Leaf <\/strong>by Alexandre Koberidze <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“In football, a \u201cdry leaf\u201d is a kick with an unpredictable landing of the ball \u2013 much like our characters who surrender to the journey and trust the wind to lead them\u201d, says Koberidze in his Locarno director statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The filmmaker’s debut Let the Summer Never Come Again<\/strong> (2017) won the Grand Prix at FIDMarseille, before What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?<\/strong> received the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2021 Berlinale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sorella Di Clausura<\/strong>, Ivana Mladenovi\u0107, Romania, Serbia, Italy, Spain \u2013 CineMart 2022, Darkroom 2025<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Presented alongside Dry Leaf<\/strong> in Darkroom 2025 was Romania-based Serbian filmmaker Ivana Mladenovi\u0107\u2019s Sorella Di Clausura<\/strong>, after its selection for CineMart in 2022. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Sorella Di Clausura<\/strong> by Ivana Mladenovi\u0107 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stela has been obsessed with a famous Serbian musician since seeing him on TV when she was 12. She travels to Bucharest to track him down, in Ivana Mladenovi\u0107\u2019s absurdly comedic parody of romantic melodrama, set amid the 2008 financial crisis on the outskirts of the Balkans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mladenovic presented her feature film debut Soldiers. Story From Ferentari<\/strong> at IFFR 2018, before her Ivana the Terrible<\/strong> won the Locarno Special Jury Prize in 2019. The project is produced at microFILM by renowned Romanian producer Ada Solomon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Locarno\u2019s competition for first or second feature films.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming<\/strong> (previously The Winner is Seen at the Start<\/em>), Zhannat Alshanova, France, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Lithuania \u2013 HBF Development 2021, CineMart (BoostNL) 2022, HBF+Europe 2023, NFF+HBF 2023<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Also presented at the 2022 edition of CineMart was Kazakh filmmaker Zhannat Alshanova\u2019s feature debut Becoming<\/strong>, which has its world premiere in Locarno\u2019s competition for first or second feature films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in today\u2019s Kazakhstan, the film follows the 17-year-old Mila who joins an open-water swimming team helmed by the enigmatic Vlad, where she must navigate \u201cdesire, pressure, and her environment\u201d on the road towards a \u201cdeep transformation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Becoming<\/strong> by Zhannat Alshanova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The project is a minority Dutch co-production through Rotterdam\u2019s Volya Films (Mouly Surya\u2019s Djakarta 1946<\/strong>, IFFR 2025 closing film & Wang Bing\u2019s Youth Trilogy<\/strong>) and was supported on three occasions by the Hubert Bals Fund: in development and for co-production support, through NFF+HBF and in partnership with Creative Europe through the HBF+Europe programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alshanova\u2019s recent short film History of Civilization<\/strong> (2020) won the Pardino d\u2019argento award at Locarno. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia<\/strong>, Sof\u00eda Petersen, Argentina, United Kingdom, Spain \u2013 HBF+Europe: Post-production 2024<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shot on 16mm in Tierra del Fuego with a crew of just six people and a cast of over forty non-professional actors, Argentinian filmmaker Sof\u00eda Petersen\u2019s Olivia<\/strong> is the mystical story of Olivia, her Father and their home, alone in the mountains. When Father disappears, Olivia descends the mountains in search of him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Film still: Olivia<\/strong> by Sof\u00eda Petersen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The project was supported by the HBF+Europe: Post-production Scheme in 2024. Petersen\u2019s short Passing Place<\/strong> won the Grand Prix at the 25FPS Festival in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet the IFFR team in Locarno<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jeske van der Slikke and Ayumi Filippone from the Hubert Bals Fund (hbf@IFFR.com), M\u00e9lissa Delm\u00e9e Mal\u00e9tras from International Relations (guest@IFFRcom) and programmer Lyse Nsengiyumva (programme@IFFR.com<\/a>) will all be attending the festival. Get in touch to say hello or schedule a meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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

A list with articles<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t