77th Locarno Film Festival held its award ceremony on August 17 - in the main competition two awards received feature film "Drowning Dry", which is co-produced by the Latvian studio Trickster Pictures. Lithuanian director Laurynas Bareiša received award for best directing and four main actors of the film - for the performance as an ensemble.
The Lithuanian-Latvian co-production Drowning Dry (Seses) is a contemporary drama that tells the story of two sisters and their husbands – two families who have come to the country house with their children to spend the weekend. Gradually, parallels and quiet rivalries begin to form between the families. In the house by the lake, vacationers enjoy the idyll, discuss money and mow the grass, but the rhymed flow is engulfed by an accident, after which both families will never live the same as before.
“Of the director Laurynas Bareisa, film is an important Baltic co-production, and we are very pleased that the film's directing and acting has been recognized with awards at such a high-level film festival, where there is fierce competition. The film shows the power of Lithuania's younger generation, but at the same time it is a pleasure that the younger generation of artists from Latvia took part in the creation of the film, demonstrating the ability to cooperate on the creation of very fine and nuanced film," says Matīss Kaža, Latvian co-producer.
Laurynas Bareisa is known worldwide for the Venice Film Festival's Horizonti / Orizzonti award-winning film Pilgrims / Pilgrimai (2022), but his latest film Dry Drowning was made in cooperation with Latvian film professionals and studio Trickster Pictures, including costume designer Laura Krauklis, makeup artists Beata Rjabovska and Ieva Sebre, producer Matīss Kaža and other Latvian film professionals. The film was produced as a Lithuanian-Latvian co-production with the support of the National Film Centre and the co-production fund Eurimages.
The Locarno Festival, founded in 1946, is one of the most influential European A-class festivals, this year 17 films were selected for the main competition Concorso internazionale, and the festival has proved especially successful for our Lithuanian neighbours – several awards were also received by the debut film Toxic, by the young director Saule Bliuvaite, which has been awarded the festival's Grand Prize and the award for the best debut film.
List of all Locarno festival winners – HERE.
Dry Drowning is expected in Latvian cinemas in October, distributor of the film in Latvia – Baltic Content Media.
More information:
Matīss Kaža
co-producer of the film Dry Drowning
matiss@trickster.lv