{"id":43202,"date":"2026-08-13T14:06:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43202"},"modified":"2026-08-13T14:06:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:06:52","slug":"asia-argento-discusses-playing-racist-locarno-award-gia-carangi-doc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43202","title":{"rendered":"Asia Argento Discusses Playing Racist, Locarno Award, Gia Carangi Doc"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tItalian\u00a0actress, filmmaker and musician\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/asia-argento-gia-carangi-doc-executive-producer-cannes-1236595778\/\">Asia Argento<\/a>\u00a0is about to take the big outdoor stage in Locarno in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/locarno-film-festival-poster-2026-cindy-sherman-1236579961\/\">79<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/2026-locarno-film-festival-program-unveiled-hong-sang-soo-1236641562\/\">Locarno Film Festival<\/a>\u00a0will celebrate the creative with its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/asia-argento-locarno-film-festival-life-achievement-award-1236622491\/\">Life Achievement Award<\/a> on Thursday evening in the city\u2019s Piazza Grande in front of around 8,000 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhile in Locarno, Argento is also\u00a0presenting Jorge Thielen Armand\u2019s <em>Death Has No Master<\/em>\u00a0(<em>La Muerte No Tiene Due\u00f1o<\/em>), which premiered in this year\u2019s Cannes Directors\u2019 Fortnight. \u201cSince making her onscreen debut as a child in Lamberto Bava\u2019s cult sequel\u00a0<em>Demons 2<\/em>\u00a0(1986) and starring in\u00a0<em>Palombella rossa<\/em>\u00a0(1989) by Nanni Moretti,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/asia-argento\/\">Asia Argento<\/a>, one of the most distinctive European performers of her generation, has built a singular body of work that encompasses passionately beloved genre films, auteur cinema, and intimate self-portraiture,\u201d Locarno said when it unveiled the honor. <\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/locarno-2026-preview-adventurous-films-algorithm-era-stars-1236652023\/\">Giona A. Nazzaro<\/a>, Locarno\u2019s artistic director, lauded her as\u00a0\u201can artist who has always managed to\u00a0reimagine what it means to\u00a0make films,\u00a0constantly challenging herself and taking personal risks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tArgento spoke to <em>THR<\/em> about the honor, her role in <em>Death Has No Master<\/em> and the documentary about late U.S. supermodel Gia Carangi that she has boarded as an executive producer. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>Congratulations on the special Locarno honor. How does it feel to get this recognition?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It feels incredible. I truly didn\u2019t expect it. Actually, lately I was thinking, my God, I\u2019ve never been invited to Locarno, and I never had a movie at Locarno. I was self-deprecating as usual, thinking they must hate me and everyone is against me. And then this came totally out of the blue, and I was moved to tears.<\/p>\n<p>In the last few years, I had a big shift of energy, and I guess life has a way of teaching you to be humble sometimes when you don\u2019t want to learn. So I see this as a sign of the universe that I\u2019m going in the right direction. With my work, I was in the past [sometimes] criticized for it being a little bit extreme and pushing the boundaries of what was accepted from a woman, as an actress, as a filmmaker. What I was trying to achieve created this gut unease, and now this is a way of the universe telling me that I did the right thing at the right time. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhen you pass through a door, you always receive a lot of blows to your head, so that other people can walk through it a little bit more easily. Now I see that everything is making sense. Okay, I wasn\u2019t wrong to always be who I was, to be honest about who I was, even though I\u2019m somebody who\u2019s far from being perfect. It was a big shine of love.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>You are presenting Jorge Thielen Armand\u2019s postcolonial thriller <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-reviews\/death-has-no-master-asia-argento-1236602591\/\">Death Has No Master<\/a><\/em> (<em>La Muerte No Tiene Due\u00f1o<\/em>), in which you star, at Locarno. Why did you want to work on that film with its themes of colonialism and trauma? What about it spoke to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI always find characters that are nonlinear, that are a bit tormented and that have a vast history and things to face from the past fascinating. I like complex characters with a lot of suffering. I find it a lot easier and more interesting to do that than, say, a comedy, which I\u2019ve done in my life, and I\u2019m not very talented at that. It\u2019s really not my genre. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tSo when I find something really dark, really obscure and weird with depth, then I dive into that. I just read the script, and I also loved the idea of the adventure of going to Venezuela and this challenge of also acting in yet another language, Spanish, since I\u2019ve done French and English. It was also a huge challenge physically and mentally. At this point in my life, I prefer the challenges that keep me curious and keep me alert.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1296px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((730\/1296)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEATH_HAS_NO_MASTER_4LA_FAENA-H-2026.jpg?w=1296\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"730\" width=\"1296\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Asia Argento in \u2018Death Has No Master.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Cannes Film Festival<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>How was the production of the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIt was very tough to shoot. I didn\u2019t immediately understand from the script that it would turn into a psychological thriller, almost paranormal in a way. I thought it was a colonial drama about family history and all that, but it\u2019s a lot more than that. And when I saw the movie, I was so immersed in the experience. Jorge is such a great director. I love his movies, and I think that with this one, he found yet another register to his art. So just working there with him fueled my fire and my love.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>Speaking about colonialism: How do you get into a role like this? Did you ever travel and experience the weight of colonialism? Or how do you find the access point as an actress to something that is so painful for so many people?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIt was pretty hard, because we developed the script and the character a lot while we rehearsed for a month before the shoot in the locations with all the non-actors there. As we were preparing, I realized, \u201cMy God, my character is a racist; she\u2019s really not somebody that I would like to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tTo play that, you have to really understand and love to prepare for that. I was in Venezuela. There were a lot of stories about the richer people that went away amid all the political problems, and the people working for them, the descendants of the slaves. I hate to even use the word [\u201cslave\u201d], but they took over houses where they worked if somebody was gone for over 10 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI think people have the right to occupy the house and live there. So this is what the movie is about, and so I spoke at length with both sides \u2013 people who went away, whose house was squatted, so to speak, and they had this colonial anger; and the people who squatted, who lived there. It\u2019s very political, and I felt for both sides. So it was important for me to understand both sides. There are always two sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>You recently signed on as executive producer on Rosita Larocca\u2019s directorial debut feature documentary\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/asia-argento-gia-carangi-doc-executive-producer-cannes-1236595778\/\">Gia \u2013 The Shadow of Beauty<\/a><\/em>, about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/general-news\/makeup-artist-sandy-linter-recalls-gia-carangi-romance-we-did-love-1297324\/\">Gia Carangi<\/a>\u00a0(1960\u20131986). The U.S.-Italy co-production approaches her \u201cnot as a pop-cultural icon but as a young woman navigating desire, abandonment and visibility in 1980s New York.\u201d Can you tell me a little bit about what brought you to this project and why you wanted to do that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was always fascinated by Gia Carangi and her arc in this show business world. She was somebody who was a very smart girl who was not fully inside the system. She was very broken and then had her battles with addiction. And there is also the fact that she was lesbian at a time when that was a huge taboo. So, there are many fascinating [themes and issues] to explore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Italian\u00a0actress, filmmaker and musician\u00a0Asia Argento\u00a0is about to take the big outdoor stage in Locarno in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The\u00a079th\u00a0edition\u00a0of the\u00a0Locarno Film Festival\u00a0will celebrate the creative with its Life Achievement Award on Thursday evening in the city\u2019s Piazza Grande in front of around 8,000 people. While in Locarno, Argento is also\u00a0presenting Jorge Thielen Armand\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Asia-Argento-Fabrizio-Cestari.jpg?w=1280&h=720&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}