Be For Films boards Locarno opener ‘In The Land of Arto’

EXCLUSIVE: Be For Films has taken on international sales rights to Tamara Stepanyan’s In The Land Of Arto starring Camille Cottin and Zar Amir that will open Locarno Film Festival at the Piazza Grande on August 6.

Cottin plays a woman who arrives in Armenia to legalise the death of her husband but discovers he has been lying to her about his identity and is actually a former soldier who deserted the war.She embarks on a journey as she uncovers her former spouse’s past and a country haunted by a never-ending war.

Amir, who won Cannes’ best actress prize in 2022 for Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, also stars alongside a mostly Armenian cast and an appearance by Holy Motors star Denis Lavant. 

Producers are Stephane Jourdain for La Huit and Camille Gentet for Pan Cinema. Armenia’s Visan co-produces.

The film is the fiction feature debut for France-based Armenian-born filmmaker Stepanyan known for documentaries Embers, that played at Locarno in 2013 and won the best documentary prize at Busan International Film Festival, 2019’s Village Of Women, and My Armenian Phantoms that premiered at this year’s Berlinale.

In a statement, Brussels-based Be For Films’ CEO and head of sales Pamela Leu called In The Land Of Arto “a deeply personal and resonant film” and said Stepanyan “brings a rare combination of sensitivity and strength to her storytelling, shaped by a journey that defied conventions and borders…Her voice, already celebrated in the world of documentary, marks a powerful new chapter in contemporary Armenian cinema”.

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