Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro has recruited some big names – including Isabella Rossellini, Darren Aronofsky, Olivia Wilde, and Caleb Landry Jones who, in various guises, are expected to be making the trek to the Swiss temple of indie cinema this year.
On Thursday, Nazzaro unveiled his lineup of more than 200 titles — almost half of which are world premieres — that will comprise new works by a mix of known auteurs such as South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, India’s Gurvinder Singh, Canada’s Denis Côté, Romania’s Șerban, and Germany’s Isabelle Stever and promising newcomers including Giovanni Tortorici whose sophomore feature “Ketticè” is produced by Luca Guadagnino.
Nazzaro speaks to Variety about this year’s selection and why it reflects his new mantra which is “curated diversity.”
Let’s start with the so-called philosophy behind this year’s selection. You’ve described it as “curated diversity.” Can you elaborate?
It puts the accent on curation and diversity. But diversity understood in all its forms. It’s a curated multiplicity of possibilities in the spectrum of filmic expression. “Curated” means that you make a choice, which is especially relevant today, when the algorythyms tend to decide for you and basically try to shape your everyday life. We want to bring back the element of unpredictability, surprise, and even something that you might not expect, which is a bit different from surprise. So this is the thing.
