Six Uruguayan film projects have been selected for First Look, the works-in-progress showcase run by Locarno Pro, the industry arm of the Locarno Film Festival, taking place in Switzerland this August. The selection, presented in partnership with Uruguay's national film agency ACAU, underlines the country's expanding arthouse output across fiction and documentary and gives the featured projects access to international financing and distribution networks ahead of completion.

The 79th Locarno Film Festival runs from 5 to 15 August, with Locarno Pro itself taking place from 5 to 11 August and its 15th First Look edition backed by Switzerland's Federal Office of Culture/Media Desk. An international jury of Ana David (Berlinale), Susana Santos Rodrigues (IndieLisboa) and Triin Tramberg (Tallinn Black Nights) will present prizes at an award ceremony on 9 August. The line-up includes "Maltrato Animal", about a bankrupted Montevideo veterinarian drawn into illegal breeding and trafficking networks; "The Other Side of the Net", a documentary confronting a father's domestic violence through tennis; "Our Little Band of Justice", set in 1983 Montevideo, following children using comic strips to fight injustice; and "Perkal", a documentary letter to the director's immigrant grandmother, among other titles.