Movie Maker - USA (2020 - Spring)

66 SPRING 2020 MOVIEMAKER.COM

FESTIVAL BEAT

LOCARNO

IN LOS

ANGELES

After a smaller edition in

2019, Locarno in L.A. returned

in full force this February,

with a slate of 11 films

imported from the Locarno

Film Festival in Switzerland.

But “imported” might be

the wrong word to describe

the opening night film,

Ham on Rye, which was shot

in the L.A. area by L.A.-based

moviemakers. The packed

house in the Downtown

Independent theater included

local friends and many who

worked on the project, kicking

off the proceedings in good

spirits.

I wrote about

documentaries shot on film

for Locarno in L.A.’s second

edition in 2018, and this was

once again a recognizable

theme of the fest. Those

That, at a Distance, Resemble

Another is an experimental

back-of-house museum

documentary that plays

almost like an extended

ASMR video. It’s a rhythmic,

soothing picture composed

mostly of close-ups of hands.

Other standouts in this mode

include the Vietnam-set The

Tree House and Ben Rivers and

Anocha Suwichakornpong’s

hybrid Krabi 2562, my

personal favorite of the fest.

The centerpiece selection

was Pedro Costa’s Vitalina

Varela, and the Portuguese

moviemaker flew into the

City of Angels for the first

time in years to discuss his

formal masterwork. He also

stuck around to knock back a

few drinks and chat with fest

patrons post-screening

at nearby Señor Fish.

Festival founder Jordan

Cronk and co-artistic director

Bob Koehler also run the

year-round screening series

Acropolis Cinema, which

is “dedicated to bringing

classic and contemporary

experimental, international,

and undistributed films to

screens across Los Angeles.”

Their Locarno in Los Angeles

is a natural extension of that

mission, and L.A. cinephiles

have certainly taken note.

—Caleb Hammond

(L-R) LOCARNO PROGRAMMER

NICHOLAS ELLIOTT,

HAM ON RYE DP CARSON LUND,

AND DIRECTOR

TYLER TAORMINA

PEDRO COSTA ANSWERS

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

AFTER THE VITALINA VARELA

SCREENING