Four North German productions in Locarno

25.07.2024 | 77th Locarno Film Festival

From 7 to 17 August, everything in Locarno will once again revolve around the world of film. The Film North is represented with four productions - including the family drama "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" by Mohammad Rasoulof, which has already won an award in Cannes, on the Piazza Grande and the film "New Dawn Fades", co-produced from Hamburg, in the international competition.

Mohammad Rasoulof's political family drama The Seed of the Sacred Fig was produced by Hamburg-based production company Run Way Pictures. Also involved from the Hanseatic city: editor Andrew Bird ("Soul Kitchen", "Tschick", "Into the Fate") as well as Optical Art and Loft Studios for post production. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 and will be shown in Locarno in the Piazza Grande section. The film is about investigating judge Iman, who works at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. As the nationwide political protests against the authoritarian government intensify, he is surrounded by mistrust and paranoia. One day, Iman is given a gun to protect himself and his family. Shortly afterwards, it disappears from his house, but there is no trace of a break-in.

The Concorso Internazionale section features the film New Dawn Fades by filmmaker Gürcan Keltek, co-produced by StoryBay from Hamburg: For years, Akın is in and out of hospital, stuck in the system. He never leaves his parents' house, except for occasional visits to religious buildings in Istanbul. In an attempt to find refuge with God, he falls into a state of ecstasy. The places of worship trigger something in him. As he loses contact with himself, his mind slips into another reality.

Hamburg Director and Script Writer Willy Hans has made it into the Cineasti del Presente section with his coming of age story Der Fleck. The drama, produced by Fünferfilm from Hamburg, is about a group of young people who spend a hot summer day lazily by a river. In associative images and mystical shots of nature, the film explores the boundaries between individuality and community.

The short film Beben by Director Rudolf Fitzgerald Leonard was largely shot in Schleswig-Holstein and stars Luis Brandt from Hamburg. The film centres on physiotherapist Mina and her adolescent patient Leon, who lives with infantile cerebral palsy. The film premiered in Cannes in 2022 and can be seen at the Locarno Filmmakers Academy Screenings.