Four NRW-funded films with premieres in Locarno
- In the International Competition: Martín Rejtman’s „Dos Disparos“ and „A Blast“ by Syllas Tzoumerkas
- World premiere on the Piazza Grande: ¨A Hitman’s Solitude Before The Shot¨ („Die Einsamkeit des Killers vor dem Schuss“) by Florian Mischa Böder
- In the Semaine de la critique: Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s „15 Corners of the World“
- 67th Festival del film Locarno from 6 – 16 August, 2014
The prestigious Festival del film Locarno in Switzerland’s Ticino has invited a total of four productions made with funding from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW to its 67th edition. The International Competion will feature Martín Rejtman’s „Dos Disparos“ and „A Blast“ by Syllas Tzoumerkas. Florian Mischa Böder’s „A Hitman’s Solitude Before The Shot“ will have its world premiere on the Piazza Grande, the festival’s centrepiece, where up to 8,000 spectators enjoy films each evening in open-air performances. „15 Corners of the World“ by Zuzanna Solakiewicz was invited to screen in the Semaine de la critique.
„Dos Disparos“ is an international co-production by Argentina’s Rizoma with Cologne-based Pandora Filmproduktion. Director Martín Rejtman focuses here on the 16-year-old Mariano, who, following a spontaneous impulse, fires two shots at himself with a gun he’d found. While his dog Lago is scared away by the shots and doesn’t come back, Mariano survives and has to endure a mysterious double intonation when playing his flute as the only consequence of his deed. Rejtman depicts a family break-up and the creation of totally new groupings around Mariano laconically and with his own particular sense of humour.The production was backed by the Filmstiftung NRW with 50,000 Euros.
Yesterday, Maria was a caring mother, loving wife and responsible daughter. Tonight, once the sun has set, everything that was ever important to her will be in tatters. „A Blast“ by Syllas Tzoumerkas is an international co-production by Cologne’s unafilm with Homemade Films (GR), Mamoko Filmproduktion (D), Graal (GR), Bastide Films (NL) and PRPL (NL). The lead has been taken by Angeliki Papoulia („Dog tooth“). The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW backed the drama with 40,000 Euros, additional funding came from Filmförderung Hamburg-Schleswig-Holstein.
„A Hitman’s Solitude Before The Shot“ was produced by the Cologne-based HUPE Film- und Fernseh produktion almost completely in North Rhine-Westphalia. The writer-director Florian Mischa Böder tells the story of the professional hitman Koralnik, who has been waiting for his first job with the utmost discipline over the past eight years. Just as he was about to chill out one evening and go out on the town with the fun-loving Rosa, he learns that he’s been activated for his first job. With Rosa in tow, he sets off on an epic odyssey. Benno Fürmann, Mavie Hörbiger and Wolf Roth play the leads in the black comedy which has ZDF and Arte involved as broadcasters. The Filmstiftung NRW backed the production with 450,000 Euros, additional funds came from the DFFF and the FFA. Camino Filmverleih will release the film in the cinemas.
Cologne’s HUPE Film- und Fernsehproduktion is also involved in „15 Corners of the World“ as a co-producer. The German-Polish co-production by Endorfina Studio (PL) tells the story of the Polish sound engineer Eugeniusz Rudnik, who became a composer and pioneer of electronic music in the 1950s.The film by Zuzanna Solakiewicz immerses itself in the artist’s electro-acoustic aural worlds and attempts to render this cinematically visible. The Filmstiftung NRW backed the production of this film with 35,000 Euros.
The Festival del Film Locarno is one of the most important international film festivals and is held this year from 6 to 16 August.