Ghosts of the previous begin haunting Céline, performed by Camille Cottin (Name My Agent!, Home of Gucci), in Tamara Stepanyan‘s In the Land of Arto, which can open the 78th version of the Locarno Movie Pageant on on the Swiss lakeside city’s Piazza Grande on Wednesday, Aug. 6.

“Céline arrives in Armenia to legalize the demise of her husband Arto,” a plot description explains. However she discovers that he lied to her about his identification. “So begins a journey by means of Arto’s previous, as she meets individuals left disabled by the battles of 2020, veterans from the Nineteen Nineties, hauntings of a endless struggle” with Azerbaijan.

Zar Amir Ebrahimi additionally stars in the fiction characteristic from France-based Armenia-born Stepanyan (Embers, My Armenian Phantoms), who has up to now been greatest recognized for her documentary work. Different forged members embody Shant Hovhannisyan, Hovnatan Avédikian, Alexander Khachatryan, Babken Chobanyan, and Denis Lavant. Stepanyan wrote the screenplay with Jean-Christophe Ferrari, Jean Breschand, Romy Coccia di Ferro, and Jihane Chouaib.

“A lady chases a ghost, however how ought to she bury it?” asks the Locarno competition web site. “Can the useless be saved?”

“I not reside in Armenia, however it haunts me like an amputated limb, dwelling inside me like a ghost,” Stepanyan shares in a director’s assertion.

THR can completely share two clips from In the Land of Arto, which is a French-Armenian co-production. Be For Movies is dealing with gross sales duties on the film.

In the first clip, Céline is trying to monitor down Arto’s delivery certificates – solely to run into an surprising problem. Take a look at that scene under.

In the second clip, Cottin and Amir Ebrahimi’s characters drive in the direction of their subsequent vacation spot and share insights into their lives, with the latter discussing defending household and motherland. Their trade ends with ideas on happiness.

Watch the clip under.

The Locarno Movie Pageant 2025 runs Aug. 6-16.