The first trailer for The Days Off, the feature debut from Argentine filmmaker Lucila Mariani, has been released ahead of the film’s world premiere at the 79th Locarno Film Festival. The coming-of-age drama will screen on August 7 in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present competition, a section dedicated to debut and second features. Ahead of its premiere, Mariani has described the film as “a love letter to the internet that no longer exists,” offering an early glimpse into a story that explores memory, adolescence and digital connection.
Set in the near future, The Days Off follows Bego, a 12-year-old girl navigating an endless summer vacation as a solar eclipse slowly approaches. Struggling to find her place within her family and among children her own age, Bego increasingly feels disconnected from the world around her.
As the eclipse draws closer and unusual events begin affecting both people and animals, she forms an online connection with a mysterious figure known as REN__. The virtual friendship introduces her to “shifting,” a practice in which teenagers believe they can access alternate realities through lucid dreaming. Blending coming-of-age drama with elements of science fiction and psychological mystery, the film explores themes of loneliness, identity and the blurred boundaries between the digital and physical worlds.
Born in 1995, Mariani studied at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. Her short films have screened at major international festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Locarno, the BFI London Film Festival, and New Directors/New Films at MoMA and Lincoln Center in New York. The Days Off marks her first feature-length film.
The project has spent several years moving through leading international development programmes before reaching production. It was developed through initiatives including Cannes’ La Fabrique Cinéma, EAVE Puentes, the Locarno Filmmakers Academy, and the San Sebastián Co-Production Forum, where it received the ArteKino Award in 2023. The film also received financial backing from INCAA in Argentina, Programa Ibermedia, ArteKino International, and Ancine in Brazil.
Ahead of its Locarno premiere, Inwave Films, a Paris- and Beijing-based sales company known for representing international arthouse cinema, acquired the film’s worldwide sales rights. The acquisition positions The Days Off for an international festival run and future distribution following its world premiere. The film is a four-country co-production between Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and France, produced by MaravillaCine, Vulcana Cinema, PNG Pictures, WooFilms y Valiente, and MISIA Films.
This year’s Locarno Film Festival, running from August 5 to 15 in Switzerland, will showcase 233 films, including 103 world premieres, under the artistic direction of Giona A. Nazzaro. The Filmmakers of the Present competition has built a reputation for introducing emerging directors whose debut features go on to receive significant international recognition, making it one of the festival’s most closely watched sections.
With a runtime of 83 minutes, The Days Off will make its world premiere on August 7, marking the first public screening of a project that has steadily developed through international film labs, co-production forums and industry initiatives over several years. The Locarno debut will serve as the starting point for the film’s international festival journey as Lucila Mariani introduces her first feature to audiences.
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