We’re unsure if we’ll ever get theatrical access to Kevin Costner‘s recent Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter Two” after distribution plans were scrapped last year (when the first installment struggled to attract audiences and seemingly pumped the breaks on the next two movies), but what we do know is that the next installment of the Locarno Film Festival will be officially screening a new 4K restoration of an extended director’s cut (clocking in nearly four-hours) of his Best Picture Oscar-winning pic, “Dances With Wolves.”
Considered a landmark of the genre and one of the more epic films of the 1990s (alongside other big historical epics such as “Braveheart,” “Last of the Mohicans,” “The Patriot,” “Glory,” and “Saving Private Ryan“), it’s maybe the most universaliy beloved effort from Costner and why there was so much promise in his four-part “Horizon: An America Saga” attempting to recapture that cinematic magic.
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An audience in Piazza Grande on Friday, August 7, 2026, will discover a spectacular new 4K version of Costner’s extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” restored by Zurich-based laboratory Cinegrell in collaboration with the Locarno Film Festival through its Locarno Heritage project and its international sales agent, K5 International.
“The Locarno Film Festival’s connection with the history of cinema runs deep and spans all its eras and forms. From the tradition of major, innovative retrospectives – which are enriched each year with new and exciting additions – to the world-renowned restorations of Locarno Heritage, the Festival has fostered a meaningful and multifaceted dialogue both with universally acclaimed masterpieces and with those chapters of cinema yet to be discovered or preserved. From Kevin Costner to Safi Faye, the Locarno Film Festival engages with cinema of the past with an eye to the new generations and the audiences of tomorrow, who are already preparing today for the challenges posed by new technologies,” Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the festival, said in an official statement.
The timing of the restoration is a tad bittersweet after the passing of Costner’s co-star Graham Greene (a much-respected and loved Indigenous actor from Canada who left a huge hole in our hearts after his death) and landed a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination in 1991 for his performance. Others who were in the film include Mary McDonnell (who got her own Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination), Tantoo Cardinal, Robert Pastorelli, Wes Studi, Rodney A. Grant, and more. Ultimately, the movie won an impressive seven statues at the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Editing.
With that awards-caliber predigree and earned reputation as being one of the best films of that decade, there is going to be a huge demand to watch this screening at Locarno79 (taking place from August 5-15), and it should be an experience that many will remember fondly for years to come.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
