‘Love Dog’ Debuts Trailer Ahead Of Locarno Premiere, Lights On Sells

Bianca Lucas’ “Love Dog” presented its trailer ahead of its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente. Lights On has acquired international distribution rights.

The film centers on John, who – after finishing a job on an oil rig in Texas – returns to his hometown in Mississippi, where he is confronted not only with his own repressed trauma, but also that of a society that is dying american myths mourns.

In a statement, Lucas said: “‘Love Dog’ is about the personal and collective process of grieving, the denial of trauma and its impact on our daily lives. About the collapse of a mythized American identity and the universal ways in which truth, love and reckoning could break generational cycles of violence and emotional pain. It’s about grief and learning to live and love amidst our spirits – not just function.”

The producers are Lucas and Joaquín del Paso for Love Dogs and Cárcava Cine. Manosanta Studios co-produced.

The script was written by Lucas and John Dicks. The film stars Dicks, TJ Tarver and Becca Begnaud. Camera is by Józefina Gocman-Dicks.

Lucas is a graduate of Goldsmiths College, London and Béla Tarr’s three-year Film Factory course in Sarajevo. During her studies she was mentored by filmmakers such as Carlos Reygadas, Gus Van Sant, Abel Ferrara, Pedro Costa, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Guy Maddin, Agnieszka Holland, Juliette Binoche and Tilda Swinton.

Her short films have been shown at international festivals such as IFFR, New Horizons, Sarajevo, Premiers Plans d’Angers, Winterthur and others. “Love Dog” is her first feature film.