The Open Doors 2020 edition underlines the great narrative and creative richness of Mongolian and South-East Asian cinema as well as the urgent need for filmmakers from this region to share their visions of their contemporary societies

Open Doors is the Locarno Pro initiative that for eighteen years has aimed to foster independent cinema and showcase directors and films from countries in the Global South and East.

This year the initiative continues its three-year focus (2019-2021), inaugurated last year, dedicated to South East Asia and Mongolia, using digital technology to the full to allow cinemas and filmmaking talents in the region to gain a greater foothold in the international scene and to offer a more inclusive and collaborative regional working platform.

“The Open Doors 2020 edition underlines the great narrative and creative richness of Mongolian and South-East Asian cinema as well as the urgent need for filmmakers from this region to share their visions of their contemporary societies, in search of a new identity, torn between the weight of the past, traditions, for some their first steps into democracy, and the major and rapid changes of the 21st century – subjects that are all the more topical in this period of global crisis,” says Sophie Bourdon, Head of Open Doors.

For this edition, Open Doors Screenings will be concentrating on the cinemas of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Myanmar, as part of the three-year cycle (2019-2021) focused on South-East Asia and Mongolia.

Head of Open Doors Sophie Bourdon says: “This program showcases the region’s impressive inter-generational dynamism, presenting on the one hand the work of young talents, especially in the field of the short film in a variety of forms, and on the other a range of full-length features awaiting rediscovery, made by directors who over the years have established themselves on the international circuit.”

The Mongolian and Southeast Asian delegations will be presented to the international industry players during Locarno 2020 as part of the following activities:

* The coproduction platform Open Doors Hub, introducing eight distinctive projects from the region for international collaborations.

* The Open Doors Lab, highlighting nine production talents who proactively contribute to the development of their local, independent film community and to the emergence of young, singular voices in the region.

The 20 titles (10 full-length and 10 short films) in the Open Doors Screenings will be available for viewing worldwide, exclusively online, during the Festival from 5 through 15 August, on the website of the Locarno Film Festival. The screenings will be accompanied by conversations between each film’s director and the Open Doors programmers.

The complete list of full-length films selected is as follows:

Apparition (Aparisyon), by Isabel Sandoval – Philippines/USA– 2012

Atambua 39° Celsius, by Riri Riza – Indonesia – 2012

Clash (Engkwentro), by Pepe Diokno – Philippines – 2009

Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku), by Garin Nugroho – Indonesia – 2018

Sell Out!, by Yeo Joon Han – Malaysia – 2008

Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay, by Antoinette Jadaone – Philippines – 2011

Songlap, by Effendee Mazlan and Fariza Azlina Isahak – Malaysia – 2011

Tender Are the Feet, by Maung Wunna – Myanmar – 1973

The Masseur (Masahista), by Brillante Mendoza – Philippines – 2005

What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love, by Mouly Surya – Indonesia – 2013

The line-up of short films is:

 A Gift (Kado), by Aditya Ahmad – Indonesia – 2018

Babylon, by Keith Deligero – Philippines – 2017

High Way, by Chia Chee Sum – Malaysia – 2018

Liar Land, by Ananth Subramaniam – Malaysia – 2019

Listen, by Min Min Hein – Myanmar/USA/Japan – 2017

Man of Pa-Aling (Manong ng Pa-Aling), by E del Mundo – Philippines/USA– 2017

No One is Crazy in This Town (Tak Ada yang Gila di Kota Ini), by Wregas Bhanuteja – Indonesia – 2019

On Friday Noon, by Luhki Herwanayogi – Indonesia – 2016

The Ruby, by Ling Low – Malaysia – 2019

Void, by Mg Bhone – Myanmar – 2018

Through the Open Doors

One of the brand-new items at Locarno 2020 – For the Future of Films is a first ever look back over the discoveries made by Open Doors in its eighteen years of film exploration. Through the Open Doors includes ten full-length features that in the past were either presented to audiences at the Locarno Film Festival or were projects completed after being selected for one of Open Doors’ industry programs.

The ten films selected are:

Made in Bangladesh, by Rubaiyat Hossain – France/Bangladesh/Denmark/Portugal – 2019 (Swiss Premiere, Opening Film at FIFDH – International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, Geneva)

Necktie Youth, by Sibs Shongwe-La Mer – South Africa/Netherlands – 2015

Keep Smiling (Gaigimet), by Rusudan Chkonia – Georgia/France/

Luxembourg – 2012

On the Edge (Sur la planche), by Leila Kilani – Morocco/France/

Germany – 2011

Winter Vacation (Han Jia), by Li Hongqi – China – 2010

Teza, by Haile Gerima – Ethiopia – 2008

Madeinusa, by Claudia Llosa – Peru – 2006

I am the One Who Brings Flowers to Her Grave (Ana alati tahmol azouhour ila qabriha), by Hala Alabdalla – Syria/France – 2006

Kairat, by Darezhan Omirbaev – Kazakhstan – 1992

Yeelen (Brightness), by Souleymane Cissé – Mali – 1987

Open Doors is made possible by the collaboration of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), which joins with the Locarno Film Festival in supporting filmmakers from the Global South and East involved in the event’s various programs. The selection of films presented by Open Doors has been curated by Paolo Bertolin and Delphine Jeanneret of the Open Doors team, together with Artistic Director Lili Hinstin.