Malaysian film Stone Turtle has been invited to the 75th Locarno International Film Festival set to take place from August 3 to 13 in Locarno, Switzerland.
On top of that, it has also been selected in the festival's international competition section (Concorso Internationale) as one of 17 films vying for the Golden Leopard award which is the festival's top prize.
The news was shared by Greenlight Pictures, which produced the film, stating that "this is the first time in history that a Malay-language film has made it to the Main Competition stage in Locarno, widely regarded as a top five most prestigious film festivals in the world".
Stone Turtle director Woo Ming Jin shared in the press statement: "I’m very proud that the hard effort of our entire team has resulted in a film that we’re very satisfied with, and that a top-tier, historical festival like Locarno has selected Stone Turtle for its Main Competition section.
"This is our world premiere, so it is the beginning of our film’s journey. We are looking forward to present our film alongside other great filmmakers in the world at Locarno."
The company further shared that Woo is also contending in the Best Director category, and the film's lead actors, Bront Palarae and Indonesian star Asmara Abigail, are in the running for the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the festival.
Other films in the competition line-up include Sermon To The Fish from Azerbaijan director Hilal Baydarov, Bowling Saturne directed by Patricia Mazuy and Julia Murat's Rule 34.
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