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Fest faces identity crisis as Muller resigns
LOCARNO, Switzerland The end of this year's Locarno Intl. Film Festival on Aug. 12 saw the 53year-old fest reach a crossroads after a decade of volatility.
Fest director Marco Muller announced his resignation on the closing afternoon, leaving the Swiss-Italian lakeside fest sans a director and president.
New prexy Giuseppe Buffi, a highly regarded local pol, died of a heart attack July 20, two weeks before opening night.
A new president will be announced Sept. 12 and a new director a few weeks later, fest sources tell Variety. They don't rule out a foreigner for the latter job, as Switzerland is notably light on candidates with the necessary international clout and contacts.
Fest's top prize, the Golden Leopard, went to a 4-year-old banned Chinese pie, "Daddy" (Baba), a cheeky, ambitious critique of authority and parenthood by bad-boy mainland Chinese novelist Wang Shuo, making his directing debut.
The film...