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Here's the press release for the Venice Days selections folks: lots of names we know! Official Selection   World Premiere La Vida De Los Peces/The Life Of Fish by Matias Bize with Santiago Cabrera, Blanca Lewin Chile - Production co.: Cenecca Producciones A young Chilean returns to Santiago after 10 years in Europe and ponders his past and future over a long night of encounters with old friends and his great love. This sentimental, urban comedy depicts a South America far from the stereotypes and folklore.   International Premiere - Opening film Le Bruit Des Glacons/The Clink Of Ice by Bertrand Blier with Jean Dujardin, Albert Dupontel, Anne Alvaro, Myriam Boyer France, Sales co.: Wild Bunch An alcoholic writer is confronted by an incarnation of his own cancer in this no-holds-barred, black comedy on illness and death. Nothing is spared politically incorrect derision - except for the desire to live and love.

Locarno, a Swiss fest dedicated to indie arthouse fair, especially with an arthouse lilt, has unveiled its lineup and it includes 10 world premiers. Locarno premiers serious weirdness (and awesomeness) like David Manuli's Beket (review here) which bowed last year.

I have yet to go through everything, so I'm just posting this as of now.

Check the full lineup after the break.

The Locarno Film Festival

Piazza Grande

"500 Days of Summer," Marc Webb, U.S. (opener)

"Blue Sofa" (short), Giuseppe Baresi, Pippo Delbono, Lara Fremder, Italy

"The Two Horses of Genghis Khan" (closer), Byambasuren Davaa, Germany

"Giulias Verschwinden," Christoph Schaub, Switzerland

"La Guerre des fils de la lumiere contre les fils des tenebres," Amos Gitai, France

"The Valley," Mihaly Gyorik, Switzerland-Italy-Hungary

"Les Derniers jours du monde," Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu, France-Spain-Taiwan

"Les Yeux de Simone" (short), Jean-Louis Porchet, Switzerland-France

"My Sister's Keeper," Nick Cassavetes, U.S.

"Petit Indi," Marc Recha,...

ROME -- The Locarno Film Festival on Tuesday announced the juries for two of the festival's key sidebars: the Filmmakers of the Present and the Leopard for Best First Film.

The Filmmakers of the Present sidebar -- which focuses on innovative filmmaking -- will be presided over by a jury comprising Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf, who took home last year's Filmmakers of the Present prize; French director Betrand Bonello; Argentina's Albertina Carri; Brazilian director Cao Guimaraes; and Swiss artist Franz Treichler. The sidebar is one of the oldest at the venerable Locarno festival.

The Leopard for Best First Film, on the other hand, is only in its third year. It selects the best film by a first-time director from among those screening in the main competition plus those in the Filmmakers of the Present.

Jury members deciding that prize will be Italy's Corso Salani, a former Filmmakers of the Present prize winner; Romanian director Cristi Puiu; and Franco-Danish producer Marianne Slot.

• The jury composed of Walter Carvalho, Saverio Costanzo, Irène Jacob, Jia Zhang-ke, Romuald Karmakar and Bruno Todeschini gave out a bunch of leopards on the weekend. Masahiro Kobayashi (see pic above) won the Golden Leopard for his film Ai no yokan (The Rebirth). Best Director was awarded to Capitaine Achab by Philippe Ramos (France) and the Special Jury Prize went to Memories (Jeonju Digital Project 2007) by Pedro Costa, Harun Farocki and Eugène Green. Spanish actress Carmen Maura and the French actor Michel Piccoli both received an Excellence Award (Michel Piccoli also received the prize for best actor in Sous les toits de Paris, joint winner was Michele Venitucci in Fuori dalle corde). And finally (and not surprisingly), Death at a Funeral (the Brit comedy by Frank Oz) won the audience award – this making it the 5th or 6th time that it has walked away from an international festival with such honors.

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