Eleven film projects from five European countries have been selected for the 2026 edition of Alliance 4 Development, the co-development platform running August 7 to 9 within Locarno Pro, the industry strand of the Locarno Film Festival (The Hollywood Reporter).

The 79th Locarno Film Festival runs through August 15. Alliance 4 Development is a focused three-day program designed to boost the co-production potential of feature-length projects from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland — meaning filmmakers get matched with potential producing partners and financiers from across those borders (Austrian Film Institute).

The 2026 selection is an eclectic bunch. Among the projects pitched: a feminist reimagining of the Indian Kamasutra, a relationship story involving an android, and the tale of a man turning into a fish (The Hollywood Reporter).

Several named projects give a sense of the spread. Cuore Matto, directed by Tamer Ruggli and written by Ruggli and Joanne Giger, comes from Switzerland's Tipimages Production, with producers Francine Lusser and Gérard Monier. Dyspnoe, directed and written by Henning Beckhoff and produced by Frauke Kolbmüller of Oma Inge Film, represents Germany. Humanoid, directed and written by Claudia Rorarius and produced by Rorarius through soQuiet Films, also comes from Germany. Le Règne des Silures, directed by Jessica Puppo, is another selected project (The Hollywood Reporter; Locarno Festival).

The filmmaker roster also includes Bruce LaBruce and Hilal Baydarov among the 2026 selections (Screen Daily). Austria accounts for two of the eleven projects (Austrian Film Institute).

What makes the showcase worth watching is the pipeline it sits in. Alliance 4 Development functions as an early-stage marketplace: these are films that do not yet exist as finished products, but are at the stage where producers need co-production partners, distribution interest, and sometimes gap financing to move from script to shoot. A festival like Locarno — with its Piazza Grande open-air screenings drawing thousands of locals and its industry accreditation pulling in sales agents and buyers from across Europe — offers a rare concentration of the people who can push a project forward.

The program mirrors a model familiar across the European festival circuit, from Berlin's European Film Market to Rotterdam's CineMart, where selected projects receive curated matchmaking rather than open-market pitching. For the five participating countries, the appeal is straightforward: cross-border co-production unlocks access to each nation's subsidy systems, and combining resources across territories can lift budgets beyond what a single country's funding bodies would support.

This year's selection size matches the 2025 edition, which also chose eleven projects, including 3rd Eye of Shiva by Maria Kaur Bedi and Satindar Singh Bedi (Locarno Festival). Locarno Pro opened the call for 2026 applications back in March (Locarno Festival).

For audiences, these are titles that may reach screens in two or three years' time — if everything falls into place.