Locarno’s Alliance 4 Development has unveiled its latest co-development projects from Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland, highlighting films centred on love, family dynamics, identity and masculinity. The selection matters because it gives emerging European projects an industry platform, while bringing together distinctive works ranging from queer musical drama to body horror and established provocateur Bruce LaBruce’s first French-led feature.

LaBruce’s “Third Take” stars Monica Bellucci and Béatrice Dalle as actresses whose reunion on a film shoot revives their deteriorating romance. Other projects include Tamer Ruggli’s late-1960s queer feminist musical “Cuore Matto”, Henning Beckhoff’s North Sea father-daughter drama “Dyspnoe”, and Antonio Donato’s “Shooting Watermelons”, about an authoritarian father holidaying with his sons. Ruggli said his film’s historical setting reflects current debates around identity and reactionary politics, while using music to broaden its appeal across languages and cultures.