Locarno in Los Angeles 2019

An unprecedented collaboration between Acropolis Cinema and the Locarno Film Festival, the third annual Locarno Festival in Los Angeles will emanate from two different venues this year: the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills. Running from June 13-16, the festival returns with a special four-day program following two successful editions in 2017 and 2018. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, film critic Justin Chang describes Locarno in Los Angeles as “a jolting antidote to the mid-spring blockbuster blues, as well as a welcome reminder that cinema isn't just a global medium; at times, it can be downright otherworldly.” Curated by Acropolis founder Jordan Cronk and co-artistic director Robert Koehler, the festival's main program is comprised of a hand-selected group of films from the 71st Locarno Film Festival’s Competition, Filmmakers of the Present, and Retrospective programs, including a pair of multi-part event films otherwise impossible to see in Los Angeles. With the generous support of MUBI, the Swiss Consulate General of San Francisco, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive, the festival will host an opening night tribute to Hollywood legend Leo McCarey at LACMA, featuring a 35mm presentation of the director’s 1937 screwball comedy classic The Awful Truth. Following opening night, the festivities will then move to the Laemmle Music Hall for an exclusive three day program of Los Angeles premieres, including the highly-anticipated arrival of the 14-hour Argentine epic La Flor, to screen in three parts over the course of the weekend. Charting a course across the entire history of cinema, Locarno in Los Angeles promises to once again bring a tantalizing taste of one of the world’s best film festivals to Los Angeles for a one-of-a-kind event.