For the first time, a Dominican film was shown in the Locarno Film Festival. The festival announced on 17 July 2017 the lineup for its 70th anniversary edition. Cocote (2015) by Nelson Carlo de los Santos will have its world premiere.
The other Latin American films included are La telenovela errante (The Wandering Soap Opera, Chile), Brazilian film As Boas Maneiras (Good Manners), Severina and Era uma vez Basilia (Once Upon a Time Brasilia), also Cuban short films Armageddon 2 and Los Perros de Amundsen and Colombian short Palenque.
Cocote is the story of Alberto, a garden worker who returns to his native town to attend the funeral of his father, murdered by a police. He finds himself attending religious services against his will. The story takes viewers to experience AfroAntillean spirituality and Dominican religious syncretism, bringing about reflects of intrinsic aspects of Dominican culture.
In the film, the starring roles are by: Vicente Santos, Judith Rodríguez, Yuberbi de la Rosa, Pepe Sierra, José Miguel Fernández, Ricardo Ariel Toribio, Isabel Spencer and Enerolisa Núñez (Salve singer).
Cocote previously was presented at the 70th Cannes Festival after having won the Panama International Film Festival.
Nelson Carlo de los Santos is a graduate in creative literature from Unibe university in 2006 in Santo Domingo. He did higher learning at the Universidad del Cine de Buenos Aires, and was an exchange student at the Edinburgh College in London. He also did a Master’s in film directing at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in California.
The 70th edition of the Locarno Film Festival will take place August 2-12 in Switzerland. The main feature of the festival is the open-air screening area at the Piazza Grande with room for over 8,000 spectators, having one of the largest open-air screens in the world (26 x14 meters).
The Locarno Film Festival is well known worldwide as a festival of discovery. Throughout its history the festival has discovered new trends and launched the careers of numerous directors and actors.
18 July 2017
