Experimental feature Dream of Another Summer has picked up Locarno Pro’s Antaviana Films First Look Award, the biggest prize handed out by the festival’s industry section. The award comes with post-production services up to €50,000.
The feature is helmed by Barcelona-born, Beirut-based filmmaker Irene Bartolomé. Producers on the project are Pere Marzo (Colibrí Studio), Bartolomé (I.B. Films), and Elie Kamal (The Attic Productions).
Discussing their choice, the Locarno Pro jury — comprised of Beatrice Fiorentino (Artistic Director, Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week), Kerem Ayan (Director, Istanbul Film Festival), and Mercedes Martínez-Abarca (Programmer, International Film Festival Rotterdam) — said the film is “a poetic and rigorous project that elaborates on collective trauma by rewriting the topography of a city wounded many times by history.”
The jury added: “In its dual public and private dimensions, it restores the complexity of a territory marked by the past and the drive for modernity.”
Elsewhere, The Music Library &SFX/Acorde Award worth € 45,000 in music supervision services went to Río abajo, un tigre directed by Víctor Diago and produced by Montse Pujol Solà (Boogaloo Films), which also nabbed the award by Laserfilm cine y vídeo, worth € 5,000.
The second annual Heritage Online Restoration Contest was awarded to I Cannibali (The Cannibals, 1969) by Liliana Cavani. The film, represented by Minerva Pictures, will receive a full restoration by German-based film lab Cinegrell and will be shown at the Locarno Film Festival 2025.
Check out the full winners list below.
FIRST LOOK
Antaviana Films First Look Award
Up to € 50,000 in post-production services
· Dream of Another Summer
Directed by: Irene Bartolomé
Produced by: Pere Marzo (Colibrí Studio), Irene Bartolomé (I.B. Films) and Elie Kamal (The Attic Productions)
Jury statement: “A poetic and rigorous project that elaborates on collective trauma by rewriting the topography of a city wounded many times by history. In its dual public and private dimensions, it restores the complexity of a territory marked by the past and the drive for modernity.”
Music Library &SFX/Acorde Award
€ 45,000 in music supervision services at Music Library &SFX ’s labs
· Río abajo, un tigre
Directed by: Víctor Diago
Produced by: Montse Pujol Solà (Boogaloo Films)
Laserfilm cine y vídeo Award
€ 5,000, which can, for example, be spent on subtitles, audio descriptions, spotting lists, transcriptions or a DCP
· Río abajo, un tigre
Directed by: Víctor Diago
Produced by: Montse Pujol Solà (Boogaloo Films)
Jannuzzi Smith Award
The design of an international poster worth € 10,000.
· Mares
Directed by: Ariadna Seuba
Produced by: Carles Brugeras, Marieke van der Bersselaar (Polar Star Films), María Nova López (Intactes Films)
Le Film Français Award
€ 5,600 of advertising space
· Bodegón con fantasmas
Directed by: Enrique Buleo
Produced by: Alejandra Mora (Quatre Films Audiovisuales SL), Alicia Yubero (Cuidado con el perro), Snezana van Houwelingen (This and that), Roberto Butragueño (Sideral)
ALLIANCE 4 DEVELOPMENT
Alphapanda Market Breakout Award
Consultancy services in the value of € 3,500
· Bourgeois Paranoia by Lukas Nathrath, produced by Linus Günther (Klinkerfilm Production, Germany)
Alphapanda states: “The Alphapanda Market Breakout Award 2024 goes to a promising vision that we cannot wait to cringe about. Humour, discomfort, obsession, revenge and bourgeois paranoia are stretched to the limits and we’re in for the bloody ride.”
Script Consultancy Residency at DreamAgo offered by the Valais Film Commission
· 6 Mois 6 jours (6 Months 6 Days) by Michale Boganim, produced by Mathilde Leite (Vilanova Productions, France), co-produced by Dorothe Beinemeier (Red Balloon Film, Germany)
Pascale Rey (DreamAgo) and Tristan Albrecht (Valais Film Commission) state: “This project is a strong story (validated by the criteria of DreamAgo) and a great potential on the production side (validated by the Valais Film Commission). Therefore we are very happy to offer the writer a script doctoring by Sir Christopher Hampton, during Plume & Pellicule in June 2025.”
MIDPOINT Consulting Award
A in-depth online script consultancy with one of the MIDPOINT Institute experts
· La Fin de l’été (Atlantic Mirage) by Hakim Mao, produced by Emma Binet and Charles Meresse (Furyo Films, France)
MIDPOINT states: “We are excited to support a compelling and gripping story that uniquely blends themes and genres, set against the mysterious backdrop of the cosmopolitan city of Agadir. Hakim Mao convinced us with his strong artistic vision, and we are eager to help him bring it to life.”
Ticino Film Commission Residence Award
A 2-day location scout (worth CHF 4,000) and Letter of Intent (LOI) for financial support for the production company (worth up to CHF 12,000), if all or part of the film will be shot in Ticino
· Itaca (Ithaca) by Alessandro Grande, produced by Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimienti (dispàrte, Italy)
Jury statement: “The Ticino Film commission is proud to award its prize to the project Itaca, in which the landscapes play a fundamental role in expressing the violent rupture that its young protagonist experiences – being kidnapped from its southern homeland and moved to a northern, mountainous, region. We are confident that, with our support, the production will be able to find the perfect locations to recreate this touching real-life story and present it to a wider public.”
HERITAGE RESTORATION CONTEST
· I Cannibali (The Cannibals, 1970) by Liliana Cavani
——
Alliance 4 Development is possible thanks to partnerships with CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée), France; FFA (Filmförderungsanstalt), Germany; DGCA-MiC (Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo del Ministero della Cultura), Italy; ÖFI (Österreichisches Filminstitut), Austria; the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) / MEDIA Desk Suisse, Switzerland. A4D is also made possible by contributions from Eurimages, which promotes and sponsors one of the initiative’s networking events, and from the European Producers Club, which offers consultancy on the various issues covered.
