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Stars: Luna Wedler, Zoë Pastelle Holthuizen, Regula Grauwiller, Georg Scharegg, Lou Haltinner, Yael Meier, David Oberholzer, Una Rusca, Timon Kiefer, Benjamin Dangel, Martin Rapold, Rachel Braunschweig | Written by Lisa Bruhlmann, Dominik Locher | Directed by Lisa Bruhlmann

There has been more talk than ever about women in the film industry and in particular, directing movies. Being even more specific, female directors in the horror genre has been a hot topic of discussion lately after Jason Blum’s comments on the subject. So, you’ve guessed it, Blue My Mind comes from a female director by the name of Lisa Bruhlmann. And as her first feature film, it’s a very impressive debut. It’s a hard film to review in that the little you know about the movie the better, and I am going to write this spoiler-free because I would love people to watch Blue My Mind knowing very little about it like I did.

The following essay was produced as part of the 2017 Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring film critics that took place during the 70th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

When Barry Jenkins’s “Moonlight” was awarded the Oscar for best picture in early 2017, some critics rushed to see it as a sign that the film community had adapted to the need for more expansive stories about sexual identity. Groundbreaking as it may have been, “Moonlight” was certainly not the first successful feature to address the subject, but its popularity epitomized a positive trend in recent cinema.

It should come as no surprise that an arthouse festival so receptive to the changes in the cinematic universe as Locarno would be responsive to these trends. Indeed, gender identity was at the cornerstone of the Swiss film festival’s 70th edition. Among the panoply of works that addressed the theme, three works...

The following essay was produced as part of the 2017 Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring film critics that took place during the 70th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

Swiss cinema isn’t exactly stuck in a rut. Its artistically-challenging documentaries are thriving: Markus Imhoofs meditation on bees in the climate-change era “More Than Honey” from 2012 was released in 29 countries around the globe, and last year, the animated “My Life as Zucchini” was nominated for an Oscar. Historically, however, Switzerland has given rise to an outstanding list of worldly auteurs such as Claude Goretta, Alain Tanner and Jean-Luc Godard. Why haven’t we heard much about young Swiss talent making the leap out of the small alpine state?

There is one major exception here: Ursula Meier is a Geneva-based cinematographer and filmmaker who has found a string of international successes. With “Sister” in 2012, she received the Silver Bear at the Berlinale.

A young dad-to-be’s feelings of inadequacy lead him down the path of bodybuilding and steroids in Goliath, the impressive sophomore feature from Swiss-German director Dominik Locher. While the narrative might be quite familiar, there is a sincere and lived-in quality to the story and the characters that elevates it above similar material, with young actors Sven Schelker (The Circle) and Jasna Fritzi Bauer (Axolotl Overkill), as the working-class future parents, delivering subtle and sensitive work even when their characters are anything but. After its premiere in the international competition in Locarno, this should see interest from other major festivals as...

Atomic Blonde, The Big Sick, The Song Of Scorpions among line-up.

The line-up for the 70th Locarno Festival (Aug 2-12) in Switzerland has been announced.

Scroll down for the full line-up

The 16-strong Piazza Grande strand features 11 world premieres, including opening night film Tomorrow And Every Other Day directed by Noemie Lvovsky and starring Mathieu Amalric, and closing night music doc Gotthard - One Life, One Soul, about the swiss rock band.

Other Piazza Grande films include Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron, Good Time starring Robert Pattinson, Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick, What Happened to Monday? with Glenn Close and the world premiere of Anup Singh’s The Song of Scorpions, starring Irrfan Khan, who will attend the festival.

Actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz will receive the festival’s 2017 excellence award and Nastassja Kinski will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award.

Michel Merkt (Toni Erdmann, Elle) will receive the festival’s best independent producer award.

As...

Oscar-winning actor will also hold a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit and present a screening of Inglourious Basterds.

German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz has been named as the president of the Swiss jury at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24 - Oct 4).

The two-time Academy Award winner will attend the festival on its opening day to and over the jury for the inaugural Filmmaker Award, which comes with a prize of more than $100,000 (100,000Chf) open to Swiss filmmakers whose projects are currently in the late production or post-production phase.

The star of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and upcoming James Bond movie Spectre will also take part in a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit - the industry sidebar of the festival which runs Sept 26-27.

In addition, Waltz will walk Zurich’s green carpet before presenting a screening of Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which proved his breakthrough performance and earned him a Best Supporting Actor at the...

I Am The Keeper, Dreamland and Father’s Garden win at Swiss Film Awards; First Saas-Fee Filmfest honours Soldate Jeannette and Love Steaks.

Sabine Boss’ I Am The Keeper (Der Goalie bin ig) was the big winner at this year Swiss Film Awards in Zurich, picking up four prizes for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Marcus Signer) and Best Film Score after being nominated in seven categories.

The production by C-Film Ag and Carac Film, based on the eponymous novel by Pedro Lenz about an ex-junkie’s past catching up with him as he tries to find a way back into normal life, was released by Ascot Elite Entertainment Group in cinemas in the German-speaking part of Switzerland on Feb 6 and has already posted over 68,000 admissions.

The members of the Swiss Film Academy voted to give the Quartz trophy for Best Actress to Ursina Lardi for her performance as a prostitute in Zurich in [link...

Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and Andrzej Wajda’s Walesa: A Man Of Hope will open this year’s ¨Febiofest¨.

The Prague International Film Festival (March 20-28) will present 141 films from 60 countries in 18 different sections.

Special tributes are being dedicated to the Finnish actress Kati Outinen, French animator Sylvain Chomet, Slovak actress Barbora Bobulová, Italian director Gianni Amelio and Ivory Coast-born actor Isaach de Bankolé.

De Bankolé, who first came to prominence in the French film industry with his role in Black Mic Mac, will present his two newest films, Mother Of August and Chaos, in Prague and will receive the Kristian Award for his Contribution to World Cinema.

Febiofest’s New Europe Competition open to first and second feature films will have such films as Wolfskinder, My Nephew, The Idiot, Life Feels Good, Puppy Love, The Machine and Rock The Casbah competing for the €10,000 Grand Prix, including a €5,000 premium for a potential Czech distributor...