Alliance 4 Development, Locarno’s international co-development initiative for filmmakers from Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland, has unveiled its latest slate of projects. The curated selection showcases diverse storytelling across multiple genres and themes, highlighting the platform’s commitment to supporting emerging and established European talent.
Among the featured projects is director Bruce LaBruce’s inaugural French production, “Third Take,” which reunites acclaimed actresses Monica Bellucci and Béatrice Dalle as two performers whose professional reunion becomes a transformative moment in their relationship. The film is positioned as a female-centered melodrama exploring emotional complexity and artistic collaboration. Additionally, Tamer Ruggli’s “Cuore Matto” presents a queer and feminist musical set during the late 1960s, examining themes of identity and freedom through song and spectacle as it follows a mother and son navigating social transformation and personal liberation.
The development slate further encompasses intimate character studies and experimental approaches to genre. Henning Beckhoff’s “Dyspnoe” examines paternal relationships and masculine identity through a father-daughter story set at a coastal retreat, blending everyday realism with poetic elements. Antonio Donato’s “Shooting Watermelons” deconstructs traditional masculinity through a summer holiday narrative, while Jessica Puppo’s “Reign of Silures” combines ecological concerns with body horror, centering on two sisters navigating survival within a deteriorating lakeside estate.
Originally reported by Variety →
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