The field of Pardo d’Oro hopefuls will include the likes of Radu Jude, Alexandre Koberidze, Ben Rivers, Maureen Fazendeiro and (surprise surprise) Abdellatif Kechiche this year. Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro has programmed what on paper looks like a solid 2025 competition section which naturally includes Jude’s Dracula (freshly picked up by 1-2 Special). Following his other 2025 drop (Berlinale preemed Kontinental ’25), this tackles the myth of Transylvania figure. Pre and post Cannes Film Festival premiere of Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo (the film was never presented again after the 2019 showing), Kechiche has finally found a lieu to launch the second part of his trilogy which began all the back in 2017 with Mektoub, My love: Canto Uno. Mektoub, My love: Canto Due is about Amin (Shaïn Boumedine) who returns home to the South of France and reconnect with his family, childhood friends, his cousin Tony and his best friend Ophelie. He spends time between his parents restaurant, local bars and beaches frequented by girls on holiday. I guess the big question is just how much of Ophélie Bau will be kept from what would have been Kechiche’s first edit.
Perhaps more in the experimental realm, Golden Leopard hopefuls also include Fazendeiro’s As Estações (The Seasons) and Rivers’ Mare’s Nest. Two films we’ve been tracking for a while now include Koberidze’s highly anticipated third feature Dry Leaf while docu-helmers Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter move into fiction terrain with White Snail. Here is the competition line-up:
Concorso Internazionale Program (competition lineup)
“As Estações (The Seasons)” by Maureen Fazendeiro – Portugal, France, Spain, Austria
“Bog Neće Pomoći (God Will Not Help)” by Hana Jušić – Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France, Slovenia
“Donkey Days” by Rosanne Pel – Netherlands, Germany
“Dracula” by Radu Jude – Romania, Austria, Luxembourg
“Dry Leaf” by Alexandre Koberidze – Germany, Georgia
“Le Bambine (Mosquitoes)” by Valentina Bertani, Nicole Bertani – Italy, Switzerland, France
“Le Lac” by Fabrice Aragno – Switzerland
“Linije Želje (Desire Lines)” by Dane Komljen – Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Netherlands, Croatia, Germany
“Mare’s Nest” by Ben Rivers – United Kingdom, France, Canada
“Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due” by Abdellatif Kechiche – France
“Sehnsucht in Sangerhausen (Phantoms of July)” by Julian Radlmaier – Germany
“Solomamma” by Janicke Askevold – Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland
“Sorella Di Clausura by Ivana Mladenović” – Romania, Serbia, Italy, Spain
“Tabi to Hibi (Two Seasons, Two Strangers)” by Sho Miyake
“Tales of the Wounded Land” by Abbas Fahdel – Lebanon
“White Snail” by Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter – Austria, Germany
“With Hasan in Gaza” by Kamal Aljafari – Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar
