The world premiere of House of Tarnished Mirrors, a short film by Tajik director Anisa Sabiri, will take place at the 79th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
The film will be screened at 11:00 p.m. on August 13 at PalaCinema 2 as part of the BaseCamp Altrove short-film program. Sabiri announced the premiere on Facebook and said she planned to attend the screening.
The official festival program lists House of Tarnished Mirrors alongside Gente de Bulla by Karen Joaquín and Classe Media by Mackenzie Reid Rostad. The three films will be presented in a 58-minute program with English subtitles.
“Making this film was a wonderful collaborative project that brought together different art forms and technical approaches,” Sabiri wrote.
She highlighted the contributions of production designer Oyat Shukurov, cinematographer Alex Grig, editor Nicole Galov, visual-effects artist Lorenzo Nero and composer Leo Abrahams, among others.
The film was created following the BaseCamp Altrove residency at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan. Six artists selected from the previous edition of BaseCamp in Locarno took part in the residency, exploring the city and producing works in different artistic forms.
Sabiri is a London-based Tajik writer and director whose work has been presented at international festivals and cultural platforms.
Her debut short film, Redemption, was selected for Russia’s Kinotavr Film Festival in 2017. Her other works include The Crying of Tanbur and the documentary Rhythms of Lost Time. Her films have been screened at events and institutions including the Busan International Film Festival, the Asian Film Archive, Documenta 15 and the Venice Biennale.
About the Locarno Film Festival
The 79th Locarno Film Festival will take place from August 5 to 15. Its official selection includes 103 world premieres and eight international premieres.
The program features new films by both established and emerging directors. Among them are Nowhere to Lay My Eyes and Nobody’s Violence by Canadian director Denis Côté. The Piazza Grande section will screen All About Corinne by Marc Fitoussi, starring Isabelle Huppert and Diane Kruger, and Down the Arm of God by Peter Brunner, starring Caleb Landry Jones.
The festival will also present classic films, including David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, as well as this year’s new releases — The Invite by Olivia Wilde and Paper Tiger by James Gray.
Founded in 1946, Locarno is one of the world’s oldest film festivals and is known for supporting emerging filmmakers and innovative cinema. Its famous evening screenings are held in Piazza Grande, which is transformed into a large open-air cinema for thousands of viewers.
Among the confirmed guests of the 79th Locarno Film Festival are Hollywood stars: Zoe Saldana, Monica Bellucci, Isabelle Huppert, Olivia Wilde, Isabella Rossellini, Virginie Efira, Asia Argento, and Caleb Landry Jones.
