In the competition for the main prize of the 75th Locarno International Film Festival, the Golden Leopard, director Helena Wittmann has set one of the few highlights so far with her feature film “Human Flowers of Flesh”.
The German author, director, camerawoman and cutter accompanies an independent young woman in her film, which is impressive with its artistically sophisticated images. This Ida, played by Greek actress Angeliki Papoulia, sails from Marseille to Algeria on her yacht with an otherwise all-male crew to find out what role the Foreign Legion plays today. The work is a German-French co-production.
Helena Wittmann sees her film, as she said in Locarno, as “an examination of life itself, of becoming and passing away”. As if on the side, she also reflects on questions of gender equality: “Of course gender issues play a role. But I don’t deal with them superficially.” The artistic originality makes her film one of the top candidates for a Golden Leopard award.
17 films from all over the world face the jury’s verdict in the international competition in Locarno. Among them is the feature film “Piaffe” by director Ann Oren, who was born in Tel Aviv and lives in Berlin. Her work, to be seen at the festival on Thursday (11 August), is regarding a young woman in the world of equestrian sport.
The Golden Leopard and the festival’s other prizes are to be awarded at a gala on the evening of August 13th.
