On August 7, one of the oldest A-list film festivals in Europe, Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, opens up for its 77th edition. This year, Latvia is represented in the main competition by the Lithuanian - Latvian co-production Drowning Dry, co-produced by Trickster Pictures, and by two producers selected for the young producers' platform "Match Me!" - Nikola Ozola and Zane Gulbe.
Founded in 1946, Locarno Festival is one of Europe's most influential A-list festivals. It has given many world-renowned filmmakers the opportunity to make their debut. This year, the festival takes place from August 7 - 17, with 17 films selected for the main competition Concorso internazionale, including the Latvian – Lithuanian co-production Drowning Dry by Lithuanian director Laurynas Bareiša. The world premiere of the film will take place on August 10, with additional screenings scheduled on August 11 and 12.
From August 8 – 13, the festival will host the 9th edition of Match Me! programme - a collaboration platform for young producers, organised in cooperation with the Baltic Film Centres and several international film institutions. Match Me! aims to broaden the horizons of young, promising producers and new film companies in terms of activity, experience and visibility, and to create an opportunity to establish new contacts. The Locarno FF selects participants for this programme, and this year Latvia will be represented by Nikola Ozola from Trickster Pictures and Zane Gulbe from White Picture.
Young producers will attend the industry section of Locarno FF and present their upcoming projects to potential co-producers, foundations, distributors and other key industry players at specially organised events. Nikola Ozola has worked at Trickster Pictures on the Locarno Competition film Dry Drowning, and now is working on several other film projects supported by the NFC - a family drama The Child (second Feature by Linda Olte), upcoming documentary The Boy (feature debut by Rūta Znotiņa) and documentary comedy I Love You, Leks Friedman! (by Matīss Kaža and Iveta Pole) etc. Producer Zane Gulbe is involved in the production of two projects at White Picture supported by NFC - the studio is producing the feature film Summer Blues (by Anna Ansone) and Limo in the Colour of Terror (by Tina Zariņa).
In previous Match Me! editions following Latvian producers were selected: Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone and Kristians Alhimionoks (2018), Matīss Kaža and Kristele Pudāne (2019), Raitis Ābele and Reinis Kalviņš (2021), Alise Rogule and Dominiks Jarmakovičs (2022), Antra Gaile and Dārta Krāsone (2023)
Latvia is also represented in one of the Locarno FFIndependent Juries - together with three other jury members, experienced Latvian film critic Anita Uzulniece will work in the Ecumenical Jury.