Two filmmakers working under pseudonyms will screen world-premiere short films in the Pardi di Domani section — "Leopards of Tomorrow," a Locarno programme for experimental and innovative cinema — at the 79th Locarno Film Festival, running August 5–15 in Switzerland (The Hollywood Reporter).

Filmsaaz is the professional name of Saleh Kashefi, a Tehran-born audiovisual artist. His 21-minute short Ãsheghetam — the title literally means "I am your lover," an intense way of saying "I love you" — screens on August 14 at 14:30 in the La Sala venue, in Persian with English and Italian subtitles (Locarno Film Festival). The festival schedule lists the production as "Filmsaaz France," indicating a French production association (Locarno Film Festival).

The film depicts a chaotic night at an underground Tehran rave, disrupted by morality police and the outbreak of war, where a queer youth retreats into romantic illusion with their partner to survive. Filmsaaz wrote, directed, and edited the piece himself, and began developing it roughly a year ago, after the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Locarno accepted the film from a rough cut; it was finished about two weeks before publication of The Hollywood Reporter's profile on July 31 (The Hollywood Reporter).

Ãsheghetam is not Kashefi's first outing this year. His minimal-budget feature debut Wolfgang world-premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) earlier in 2026 (The Hollywood Reporter).

The other pseudonymous artist in the spotlight, NEOZOON, brings a 14-minute short titled Together — a world premiere screening on August 8 at 9:00 with free admission, shot in both colour and black and white with English subtitles (Locarno Film Festival). The festival programme describes Together as an exploration of human desires for land ownership and property through archival material (Locarno Film Festival).

Both shorts sit in the Pardi di Domani – Concorso Corti d'Autore lineup, a competitive section for author-driven short films (The Film Stage). The broader festival also honours established names this edition: James Gray and Darren Aronofsky are among the film-makers receiving career tributes (The Hollywood Reporter).

What makes these two selections stand out is the choice to screen under names that conceal identity while the work itself is fiercely direct — one taking aim at Tehran's morality police, the other at the politics of land. Locarno's Pardi di Domani has long been a platform for film-makers whose output demands a degree of protection; the pseudonyms are part of that tradition.