The Locarno Film Festival announced today that Mexican actor Gael García Bernal will be honored with the Excellence Award, along with British actress Charlotte Rampling, joining the Swiss festival’s long tradition of honoring actors with an international standing. Past recipients include Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe.
The festival pays tribute to the actor through this year’s screenings of two of his most important roles: Pedro Almodovar’s La mala educacion / Bad Education, an examination of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on two childhood friends (and lovers) and Michel Gondry’s La science des reves / The Science of Sleep, a fantastical comedy in which a man’s vivid dreams and imagination interfere with his ability to interact with his reality.
Locarno will also be screening Bernal’s latest film, No, Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain’s historical drama about Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Before No screens on August 8 in the famous Piazza Grande, Bernal will be on hand to receive the award. Bernal also participated in last year’s festival when the film director Julia Loktev's The Loneliest Planet participated in the main competition.
The 65th edition of Locarno will take place from August 1st through 11th.
