Running from August 6-16, The Locarno Film Festival is set in the beautiful Swiss town of – you guessed it – Locarno, under the majestic shadow of the Swiss Alps. It’s such an aesthetically lofty location, you might think it’s another red-carpet affair. But don’t be fooled -- unlike its older, more famous relative the Venice Film Festival, The Locarno Festival prides itself on its no-red-carpet policy.

Where Cannes and Venice represent the gluttonous, capitalist, bourgeois side of the film industry, Locarno keeps things on a down-to-earth level. It pits the director against the observer, the critic against the town dweller. Everyone is invited, everyone has the right to debate, critique, deliberate, and observe. As the neighboring Lake Maggiore ripples and sparkles in the Swiss summer sun, Locarno’s thousands of visitors descend to one of its nine screening venues, the crowning jewel being the Piazza Grande in the centre of town. This enormous Renaissance square has no place for VIP boxes or luxury seats and is certainly in keeping with the festival’s welcoming manifesto that highlights “openness and dialogue. An ideal platform for the promotion of national cinemas from Europe and the world over,-- welcoming all kinds of films and formats.’’

Whereby Venice thrives on its prestige, Mussolini Cups, and pompous tradition, Locarno is proud to bring the festival-goer such projects as ‘The Open Doors Programme’ that according to organizers, is a "commitment to raising the visibility of film projects from developing countries and from countries which lack a constructive film industry.” Being such an open and liberal festival, Locarno attracts its fair share of controversial and radical directors certain to rile up critics and observers alike. PsychoPedia picked several of the most talked-about and anticipated films of the festival…

Filmfobia by Brazilian experimental documentarian Kiko Goifman is a mock film about the public’s fears in modern society. Having already won awards such as the ‘Development Award of Hubert Bals Fund,’ this film has clearly hit straight to the human psyche with Goifman’s play on reality. Filmofobia revolves around one Jean Claude Bernadet (a renowned theorist and purveyor of Brazilian film) who plays the director of this fake documentary. Bernadet’s main paranoid philosophy revolves around the belief that the only truth in the world is a human being’s personal conflict with their phobia. His own paranoia and fears spill out, forming the basis of Filmofobia’s intricately-layered plot.

In ‘La orilla que se abisma', Argentinian director Gustavo Fontan has created a masterpiece that chooses to make any narrative defunct, instead bombarding the viewer with visuals set to verses by revered poet and fellow Argentinian Juan L. Ortiz. Using the same aesthetic principles as Ortiz, Fontan sets out to create a movie that bears witness to Ortiz’s words. Finding the inspiration for his visual dialogue in the words of Ortiz, the viewer should find a splendid representation of how the ideals of artists in different media can work in harmony. In La orilla que se abisma Fontan becomes the poet and Ortiz the director.

One of the most controversial films at the festival has to be Anorexia. Storia Di Un’Immagine by Leandro Manuel Emede. This 25-minute short follows the life and times of anorexic model Isabel Caro. Interestingly, the film is produced by the Oliviero Toscani Agency, Toscani being the photographer who famously caused much outrage in Italy last year for using an image of Caro naked in an Italian ad campaign. Cleverly timed to coincide with Milan Fashion Week, Toscani created a consciously sought-after fuss claiming it was done to create awareness of the disease. Whether this short is a direct defense of Toscani by Ernede, a film accompaniment to Toscani’s fight against anorexia or an honest and gritty portrayal and dedication to young Isabel Caro remains to be seen, either way the impact this short is certain to create will surely be as strong and thought-provoking as the message it sets out to make.

Israeli director Amos Gitai will be receiving Locarno’s much-sought-after Leopard of Honour, that every year pays tribute to a major director who is still active in his/her field. Previous recipients of this prestigious award include Jacque Rivette, Jean Luc Godard, and Bernardo Bertolucci. In honor of Gitai, Locarno will be screening five of his films with highlights such as ‘Kippur’ and his latest outing ‘Plus tard tu Comprendras’. The turning point in Gitai’s life that took him from following in his father’s footsteps as an architect, to a film director, came when he was called to serve in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. With his 8mm camera by his side, Gitai started taking footage of the war. His experiences in service climaxing in his helicopter being brought down by a missile formulated the roots of his film career and became the basis of the autobiographical film ‘Kippur’. More recently, Gitai has excelled himself once again by moving away from the Israeli politics he documents so well, with ‘Plus tard tu comprendras’ (‘One day you will Understand’), a tear-jerking story that follows French Jew ‘Victor’ (based on the autobiography of Jerome Clement president of French arts channel ARTE), who, following the 1983 trial of Gestapo chief or ‘butcher of Lyon’ Klaus Barbie, starts to rummage through his family’s until-now secret history.

~Kevin Soar