Locarno Festival: Movies by Basil da Cunha and Edgar Pêra selected

Nthe press conference, the direction of the festival revealed that “Alligator”, director luso-switzerland Basil da Cunha, integrates the international competition, while Edgar Pêra’s “Warrilha do Asfalto”, will be out of competition, being a return of both cinema to the Swiss festival.

The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival is scheduled from August 5 to 15.

“Jacaré” is presented by director Basil da Cunha as a gender film, “at the meeting between the ‘blaxploitation’, the American police of the 1990s and the Cape Verdean music of the 1970s”, the last one filming in Reboleira, Amadora, territory of some of its previous films.

“ Although the story starts from a failed robbery and the disappearance of a bag with 180,000 euros, the real engine of the film is the people who gravitate around this event. [...] It is a choral film where each character represents a fragment of Reboleira and where the community itself assumes the main role ", explained director in statement.

Basil da Cunha's film is a production between Portugal, France and Switzerland, joining the “Manga d’Erra” (2023) and “The end of the world” (2019), both also presented in Locarno.

The cast includes Alexandra Sena, Alexandre Fonseca, Paulo César Lima Fonseca, Nelson Carvalho, Pedro Diniz, Heidir Correia, Carlos Fonseca, Pedro Ferreira, Frederico Lopes, Veronica Lii, Maria Santos, Susana Costa, Ivo Bernardo, Carloto Cotta and Filipe Vargas.

After “Telepathic Letters”, an experimental film made with Artificial Intelligence, Edgar Pêra debuted in Locarno “Warrilha no Asphalto”, inspired by Manuel Ricardo Sousa’s book “Warrilha no Asphalto — As FP-25 e o Tempo Português”.

“The film crosses fiction and real events to revisit one of the most troubled periods of Portuguese democracy”, regarding the action of the armed group Popular Forces April 25 (FP-25) which, in the 1980s, organized dozens of violent assaults, attacks and actions considered terrorists, which caused 17 deaths.

According to the distributor, “Alligator” and “Warrilha do Asfalto” still debut this year in Portuguese cinemas.

With regard to this year's official programming, the Locarno Film Festival had previously announced the presence of four films with production from Portuguese-speaking countries in the competition.

In the international contest of the Pardi di Domani section, the film “Aurora Borealis”, by Valeriya Kim, will be on a coproduction between Hungary, Belgium, Portugal and Kazakhstan.

Already in the Open Doors section, in the category of feature films, will be the Swiss premiere of “The Prophet”, Mozambican Ique Langa, who had his world debut in Rotterdam.

In the short and medium films, will participate in Locarno the films “Submerged”, Mozambican Ariel Añez, and “Time to Change”, Angolan Pocas Pascoal, both in Switzerland.

This year, the festival will distinguish North American director Darren Aronosfky with Leopard of Honor and actress Isabella Rossellini with the award of Excellence. Icelandic producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson, actress Asia Argento, artist Rick Baker and actress Virginie Efira will also be distinguished in Locarno.