Beast
Lars p. Arendt's "Beast" is about 10-year-old Benjamin who lives on an isolated farm with a violent father and a mother who turns the other cheek to the domestic brutality. One day Benjamin witnesses his father's violence. From that day, nothing remains the same.
Starring in "Beast" are two prominent Danish actors: Anne Louise Hassing and Lars Bom. The film is produced by Troels Faber for Super8 & Picturewise Film, with support from the DFI Film Workshop.
The Leopards of Tomorrow programme consists of 24 international films selected from some 2000 films. This section has welcomed the first films made by Fatih Akin, Barbara Albert, Paul Thomas Anderson, Laurent Cantet, François Ozon, Andrea Staka, Roberta Torre and many others. Leopards of Tomorrow screens mostly fiction works whose directors have not yet made feature films. The films have a maximum duration of 40 minutes.
Mirror
Joachim Ladefoged has long studied bodybuilding in his photographic images. But "Mirror" will mark his film debut, an art film of sound and images, devoid of dialogue. About his film Lagefoged comments: "Bodybuilding is unadulterated narcissism. The sprinter fights the clock, the weightlifter fights the barbell, but the bodybuilder has nothing but a mirror. Training schedules, strict diets, and hour upon hour in the gym are only the outward aspects of extreme discipline and an eternal struggle for the ideal physique".
"Mirror" is produced by Helle Faber for Bastard Film, with support from New Danish Screen and the DFI Film Workshop.
Also to appear at Locarno this year is Simon Staho's feature film "Warriors of Love", which will appear in the Filmmakers of the Present Competititon.