Alliance 4 Development, a co-development initiative organized by Locarno Pro for film projects from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, has revealed the 11 titles selected for its 7th editing.
From Georgia Worth’s “Allegra” to Malina Mackiewicz’s “Bottom of the Ocean Electric Fish” and Mariko Minoguchi’s upcoming “Element,” most projects about late-life sexual awakening will be directed by women. The latter will address some environmental fears as teams of scientists try to make sure Earth’s water supply doesn’t suddenly disappear.
Minoguchi, who previously co-wrote the script for Tim Fehlbaum’s “The Colony,” “doesn’t shy away from big emotions or images,” she said, “it makes you think and reflect. And, above all, is a moving and impressive cinematic experience. “
Big emotions will also inspire Manan Koubia’s “Songs of the Stone Mountains,” the reunion of old lovers on a mythical mountain, and Stephan Riethauser’s “Orpheus,” about the relationship between a young dancer and her choreographer.
“‘There is no love; there are only proofs of love.’ These words of Jean Cocteau will guide me to direct my first fiction feature,” he promised, calling it “a film beyond labels, barriers and genres. A film that reminds us that the freedom to love is the most precious thing we have. As proof of love film.
Thomas Wochitz will take a look at “social affiliation, identity and questions” in “The Beginning of Gravity or the Fateful Journey of a Noble Family and Their Servants,” described as a “baroque road movie.” Personal Otherness” will be explored in Willy Hans’ “Der Flake”.
Inspired by “Fast and the Vampire,” Vero Krauseborn will play with the genre in “Molecules,” a thriller about two twin sisters and their complicated bond. Anchored in reality but moving toward the strange, she will provide us with “close-up body horror, brutal and forward.”
Alliance 4 Development will also screen the first film of “The Vincent,” aka Vincent Veillon and Vincent Kucholl, who will direct and star in “A Vampire in Ropraz,” about a 1903 horror discovery that shocks a community. At its core.
“It’s a powerful project, teamed up with an auteur film that we know aims to reach a large audience,” observed producer Jean-Marc Froh, praising its international potential.
Mo Haraway will also cross borders, returning to her Somali roots in “The Village Next to Paradise,” while Mo Scarpelli will travel to western Kenya for “A Song of the Sledge,” in which she explores an ancient myth.
“Whatever the subject or context, the potential to build partnerships across regional boundaries will be artistically and developmentally fruitful for anyone now stepping into a feature director’s chair for the first or second time,” teased the show’s organizers.
Finally, for the first time, selected projects will compete for the Alphapanda Market Breakout Award. Film marketing agency Alphapanda, founded in 2011, will offer the winner marketing consultancy and the creation of a pitch deck worth €3,000 ($3.060).
“Applying a real marketing strategy to a film in development is essential and often overlooked by producers,” said Mathias Noskis, founder of AlphaPanda. Variety. The company is also behind the Audience Engagement Award at Les Arcs Industry Village and the Alphapanda Award at Marché du Film’s Cannes Docs.
“We hope this award-winning project will help find production and sales partners. We know the quality of films presented in Alliance 4 development and can’t wait to discover this year’s projects.”
Alliance 4 Development will take place over three days (August 5-7) at the Locarno Film Festival.
Brief profile of projects:
“Allegra”
Switzerland
Director Georgia Worth
A 60-year-old widow, who had never been extremely excited, suddenly discovered the secret of her late friend: she worked as a prostitute. Now, Allegra has a chance to follow in his footsteps, despite everything she believes. “It has long been my dream to tell the story of old age, the most precious stage of life precisely because it is the last. I was specifically looking for a story that allowed me to fight the taboo: bodies that deteriorate and frail but which, despite everything, are filled with life and desire. pulsates,” Worth said. The Rough Cat produces Nicola Bernasconi.
“A Song That Kills”
Italy, America
Director Mo Scarpelli
Based on a myth about a girl who eats a poisonous flower to avoid marriage to an old man, “A Song the Sledge” marks Scarpelli’s fiction debut, following his standout doc feature “El Father Plays Himself.” Described as a fairy tale, it will be set in the Pokot community of western Kenya. “[It’s] A message for girls who choose to face their own destiny, always facing the taboo and ready-made stories about women as victims, searching for the violence and bravery within us,” said the Italian-American director. Produced by Luigi Chimienti and Alessandro Amato (Dispàrte), the project Rake is co-produced by Films.
“The Beginning of Gravity or the Fateful Journey of a Noble Family and Their Servants Across the Mountains”
Austria, Switzerland
you Thomas Woschitz
This “baroque road film” will be set in 17, produced by Gabriele Krangelbinder and Barbara Pichler (KGP Film Productions), produced by Woschitz and co-produced with Katrin Renz (Telfilm).th century A noble family sets out to cross the Alps with their servants, but storms and troubles disrupt the existing hierarchy. It will explore “power and powerlessness, faith and knowledge, selfishness and selflessness,” while featuring Laibach’s score: “George Frideric Handel is translated into a contemporary key,” added its helmer.
“Bottom of the Ocean Electric Fish”
Italy
Director. Malina Mackiewicz
On an island in the Pacific Ocean, families are imprisoned in a refugee camp. Only those in need of immediate medical treatment, or pregnant women, are transferred to the mainland – something the two teenagers are hoping for. “Despite the real-world situations that serve as initial inspiration, this political context remains the backdrop of an intimate film about childhood,” noted Mackiewicz, adding that “the heart of the story is hidden in the private moments of adolescence.” Andrea Paris (Ascent Film) and Valeria Beraldo produce.
“venue”
Germany, Switzerland
Director. Willie Hance
The project, in the early financing stages, will see a boy who – after running away from boarding school – finds himself on the banks of a river with a group of strangers. Fortunately, he soon meets a girl and the two embark on their own adventure. Setting out to explore the boundaries between individuality and community, Hans wants to “playfully and humorously explore the limits and possibilities of social interaction.” Produced by Julia Cöllen, Karsten Krause, Frank Scheuffele (Funferfilm, also after Locarno’s “Human Flowers of Flesh”) and co-produced with Michela Pini (8horses).
“element”
Germany
Director Mariko Minoguchi
From Minoguchi, who impressed with his time-looping debut, “Relativity.” When Earth’s water threatens to disappear without a trace, a team of scientists is tasked with traveling to the mysterious source of the natural disaster. In Minoguchi’s science fiction project, to be shot in English and produced by Jorge Narges (X Film Creative Pool), the aim is “to tell a story that can do justice to the visual standards of the genre and be realized with a relatively low budget.” “Our advantage is that we don’t have to develop a new CGI alien but we’re using what we already know,” she said. “Water, an element with great cinematic potential.”
“Songs of the Fallen Hills”
France, Belgium
you Manon Koubia
In her feature debut, Manon Koubia continues her exploration of the mountain, in “Those Who Live and Haunt It,” following a glaciologist and alpinists on their way up a newly collapsed mountain — including her ex-boyfriend. Created by Emmanuelle Latourrette (El Film) and co-produced with Coubia, Nicolas Rincón Gille and Jeremy Van der Haegen (The Blue Raincot), it will see “emotional characters who gravitate around this legendary location at a moment when the building threatens to disappear.”, said the director. Yoann Zimmer has been tapped to star.
“A Vampire in Ropraj”
Switzerland
dir Vincent Wellon and Vincent Kuchol
Adapted from the work of Jacques Chasex, this “pulp village” began in 1903, when the body of a recently buried woman was mutilated. As the investigation progresses, it is difficult to identify the suspect. “It was the book that called for the project, not the other way around. But, how to tell a horror story? Perhaps by looking at it from the sidelines, by investigating characters whose way of life can be scarier than a dishonored grave,” commented the directors. Jean-Marc Fröhle (Point Productions) added: “’The Vincent’ will take this classic to their cinematic galaxy!
“molecules”
France
Director. Vero Cratzborn
To save her sister from a degenerative disease, Diane participates in the first clinical trial of an experimental molecule. But cutting the cord with her twin could be dangerous. “I want to resonate with our current fears,” the director explained. “In our society, addicted to the powerful drug industry, bodies are exploited, borrowed, vulnerable, cured. In Molecules, the body will speak louder than words. Billed as a thriller, according to producer Thomas Lambert (Tomsa Films) it is also “a love story about fusion and loss. will be, where the savings become a net.”
“Orpheus”
Switzerland, France
you Stephen Riethauser
Produced by Véronique Vergari (Luna Films) with co-producer Thomas Lambert, this tale of forbidden desire shows the relationship between the teenage Leo and Matthias, the choreographer who works for him in the opera. They fall in love but a conflict ensues – Mathias is accused of exposing the young dancers to pornography. “Music and dance are like love: they travel beyond words, reveal the unconscious and our animality,” said Riethauser. “A contemporary, intimate drama with an epic accent, ‘Orpheus’ offers a critical look at the norms and values that shape us.”
“Village on the Edge of Paradise”
Austria
Director. lose mo
A highly regarded short film director, Somali-born Mo Haraway – who plans to work with local non-commercial actors – will follow a Somali family and their daily struggles over the course of a summer at the facility. “I want to be a part of the growing but still very small film infrastructure in Somalia,” he added with his producer Oliver Newman (Freebutterfilm): “The story gives us an inside view of daily life in Somalia, a life that we – if at all – can only see in the West. , know from a superficial point of view. We see a great opportunity to keep [Mo Harawe] As a new African voice in the international arthouse field.