Swiss Cinematic Bliss at Locarno: From a Hunt for Loot, 'The Chilean' and Don Quixote to 'Small Talk'

The 79th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland runs Aug. 5–16 and spotlights adventurous new cinema with Swiss participation across multiple sections, including the “Panorama Suisse” lineup and Locarno Kids screenings. The festival’s slate highlighted by THR includes Sergio Castro-San Martín’s The Chilean, a co-production of Italy, Chile and Switzerland that follows Aldo, a skilled explosives worker who flees during mining protests in 1976 and later faces a choice tied to anarchist groups. Another featured title is Happiness Is So Close! by François-Christophe Marzal, centered on an actor in his 80s rehearsing for Don Quixote, whose health issues trigger paranoia around an understudy. Ahead of the Aug. 9 world premiere, Jean-Luc Bideau is set to receive a special honorary Leopard. The article also teases Matteo Yberra’s Small Talk.