Neuigkeiten

Projects from Austria, Switzerland, Canada and Italy were among the winners at last night’s Locarno Pro Awards (Sunday 10 August).

Locarno Pro, the industry platform of the Locarno Film Festival, handed out prizes to projects in its work-in-progress section First Look, co-development programme Alliance 4 Development, the Antaviana Spanish Previews Award and the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest.

First Look

The 14th edition of Locarno Pro’s works-in-progress section First Look focused this year on six feature films in post-production from Canada.

Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ Nina Roza picked up two awards: Toronto-based Urban Post Production’s First Look Award, which covers post-production...

Nina Roza, a feature by filmmaker Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, led the winners at this year’s Locarno Pro awards, taking two gongs.

The film, produced by Colonelle films (Canada), won the Urban Post First Look Award, covering post-production services up to Chf 50,000, and the Jannuzzi Smith Award, covering the design of an international poster worth € 10,000.

The film’s co-producers include Umi Films (Italy), Echo Bravo (Belgium), Ginger Light (Bulgaria), and Premier Studio (Bulgaria). Discussing the film, the Locarno pro jury said: “This film stood out for its beautiful integration of music and art, its performances, and a captivating narrative that explores identity, exile, and the idea of home and family. The Urban Post First Look Award goes to ‘Nina Roza’ by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles.”

The Music Library &SFX/Acorde Award , worth € 45,000 in music supervision services at Music Library & SFX’s labs, went to Thanks To The Hard Work Of The Elephants by Bryce Hodgson.

Locarno Pro, the industry platform of the Locarno Film Festival, has announced this year’s winning projects.

In the work-in-progress section First Look, this year focusing on Canadian cinema, “Nina Roza” by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles has made quite an impression.

Produced by Colonelle Films (Canada), and co-produced by Umi Films (Italy), Echo Bravo (Belgium), Ginger Light (Bulgaria) and Premier Studio (Bulgaria), it won two awards: the Urban Post First Look Award and the Jannuzzi Smith Award.

As reported by Variety, the film was picked up by Best Friend Forever.

It takes on eight-year-old art prodigy from Bulgaria, spotted by an art collector after her video goes viral. But meeting her also means going home – and he’s been avoiding it for 30 years. The director called his trip “an intimate, initiatory quest,” as he’ll have to “face his past through Nina.”

According to jurors, the project stood out for “beautiful integration of music and art,...

The Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro industry strand on Sunday unveiled the winners of its industry awards, including its First Look works-in-progress section focusing on projects on the verge of completion, the co-development program Alliance 4 Development, the Antaviana Spanish Previews Award, and the third Heritage Restoration Contest.

The winners were unveiled during the Locarno Pro Award Ceremony on Sunday. The promising feature film projects that competed for the First Look awards were from this year’s focus country, Canada.

The First Look awards were handed out by an international jury comprised of Franck Finance-Madureira, film critic and president/founder of the Queer Palm and the Queer Palm Lab, Kim Yutani, director of programming at the Sundance Film Festival, and Jacqueline Lyanga, co-director of film programming at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The 78th edition of the Locarno festival runs until Aug. 16.

Check out the full list of Locarno Pro winners below.

First Look, the work in progress section of Locarno Film Festival – spotlighting six feature films in post-production stage – is heading to Canada for its 14th edition.

“Canada was on our radar for a while, as we believe there’s a roster of great talents being produced in that territory which brings a great diversity and also a good mix of emerging and established filmmakers,” noted Locarno’s Industry Manager Daria Voumard.

“Canadian films are also very well represented in our official selection; therefore the choice was quite organic.”

In the past, First Look presented new productions from Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Israel, Poland, Baltic countries, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Germany, the U.K. and Spain.

An international jury, composed of Franck Finance-Madureira, Kim Yutani and Jacqueline Lyanga will award several prizes on Aug. 10, 2025. But before that – and thanks to a partnership with Telefilm Canada – international industry insiders will be able to...

Lhasa de Sela Doc Among Six Canadian Films Set For Locarno Pro First Look

Award-winning film editor Sophie Leblond will be among six Canadian filmmakers showcasing upcoming films in Locarno Pro’s First Look work-in-progress event this August. Leblond, who has been feted for her editing of films such as Viking and Alexander Odyssey, will present directorial debut feature Lhasa. The doc explores the trajectory of late Canadian folk and world music star Lhasa de Sela, whose life and career were cut short in 2010, when she died of breast cancer at the age of 37. The other movies in the selection comprise Nick Butler’s misfit drama Lunar Sway; Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ Bulgarian artist homecoming tale Nina Roza; Bryce Hodgson’s Thanks To The Hard Work Of The Elephants, billed as a “queer love fantasy” about two teenage boys who escape a youth detention center and try to set up an...

Raymond St-Jean’s horror Veins is among six Canadian features selected for First Look, the work-in-progress section of Locarno Film Festival’s industry strand Locarno Pro.

Produced by Canada’s 1976 Productions, Veins is set in a semi-abandoned Canadian village, where a young woman unravelling the mystery of her father’s sudden death makes discoveries more sinister and horrifying than she could have imagined.

Scroll down for the full list of projects

St-Jean has previously made features including 2023 crime film Dusk for a Hitman.

Running from August 8-10 and presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada, the First Look section is for...

Six Canadian film projects have been chosen and unveiled on Tuesday for the Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro First Look program, highlighting works-in-progress.

Out of more than 40 submissions, a first pre-selection was made by a committee composed of Ana David (Berlinale Panorama, Márgenes, Queer Lisboa), Tom McSorley (Canadian Film Institute), and Alex Masson (San Sebastian International Film Festival). The projects will be presented to accredited industry professionals by the producer or producers during the Locarno Film Festival.

An international jury, comprised of Franck Finance-Madureira, film critic and president and founder of the Queer Palm and the Queer Palm Lab, Kim Yutani, director of programming at the Sundance Film Festival, and Jacqueline Lyanga, co-director of film programming at the Berlin International Film Festival, will award several prizes, including one covering post-production services up to a certain price, one covering music supervision services at Music Library & SFX’s labs, and one for image finishing services,...

Liza Weil, Douglas Smith and Noah Parker are set to star in the dark comedy feature Lunar Sway.

Nick Butler is writing and directing the movie that hails from Cloudy Pictures Inc., with development funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Lucas Meeuse (The Legacy of Cloudy Falls) and Izad Etemadi (Cyrus and Chels) serve as producers, while Robin Cass (Lilies) executive produces.

Lunar Sway centers on Cliff (Parker), who is struggling with his love life in a desert town when he unexpectedly connects with his estranged birth mother (Weil). After learning of his mom’s string of secrets, Cliff is led on a wild misadventure while also spending time with his love interest Stew (Smith), a mysterious dentist.

The film is continuing the casting process and aims to begin shooting in September. Lunar Sway marks Butler’s sophomore directorial feature following The Legacy of Cloudy Falls, which is...

Speaking to CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday, Elon Musk refused to walk back comments he made recently about billionaire investor George Soros that critics, including the Anti-Defamation League, have noted are full of antisemitic tropes.

Musk, as usual, relied on his familiar claim that he is a defender of “free speech,” and stood by the remarks. He also denied any antisemitic intent, describing himself as “like a pro-semite.” Ironically, earlier in the conversation Musk repeatedly denied that the neo-Nazi who committed the mass shooting in Allen, Tx on May 6 was a white supremacist.

But first, Soros. On Monday Musk, apparently angry that Soros’ investment firm recently dumped every share of Tesla it owned, compared Soros to the Marvel Comics character Magneto. Journalist Brian Krassenstein replied to Musk, pointing out that like Magneto, Soros is a holocaust survivor who is “attacked nonstop for his good intentions which some Americans think...

The iHeartPodcast Network Australia has today announced a strategic partnership with Producey, focussed on the monetisation and growth of its podcast slate. This includes sales representation for the cult podcast Dyl & Friends, List Cloggers, 200 Plus, Bromley-Lynch and more.

The addition of the Producey Podcast slate further showcases the iHeartPodcast Networks ability to connect brands with the podcasts Australians can’t get enough of. With half of the nations top 10 podcasts, the addition further bolsters the networks line-up. Director of Producey, Dylan Buckley said: “"We're delighted to partner with the iHeartPodcast Network to grow the sales component of the Producey podcast network. We're extremely proud of the content we create for sports-loving millennial males and with Arn/iHeart's support we're excited about the opportunities that will open up for us in the future."

Corey Layton, Head of Digital Audio said: “Producey’s sports content credentials are exceptional as proven by...