Nazzaro notes that the pandemic didn’t cause the current disruption in the independent industry: “The perception itself of cinema and films was dramatically changing but somehow things felt as if they could go on forever in the same mode” he says.
It is an opportunity to expand our reach outside the geographical limits of Locarno and Switzerland, but also to propose some services and activities all year long.” “We will maintain our Locarno Pro Online structure, allowing those that are not able to come to Locarno to follow some of our activities and services. “ film festivals and markets were already exploring digital solutions and hybrid models, which can be a valuable asset in the future, although in-person business still remains crucial for the film industry,” says Locarno Pro head Markus Duffner. While the physical event remains at the core, organizers are holding on to some pandemic-specific digital services, including Locarno Pro Online, the online industry program designed to support auteur cinema.Ĭustom-made for the international art-house industry, Locarno Pro Online offers a variety of services for sales agents, distributors, exhibitors, producers and filmmakers, among them First Look, a section that showcases films in any stage of post-production, and Heritage Online, a year-round database where streamers and potential buyers can watch available titles and have direct access to rights holders. Like international festivals worldwide, Locarno was forced to rethink everything during the pandemic, shifting most of its activities online in 2020, with only a handful of physical screenings in local theaters.Ģ021 was an in-person event, but the festival provided online services for industry professionals unable to travel to attend the fest.įor this year, Locarno, which was already undergoing a process of digitalization pre-pandemic, will continue in hybrid mode. Locarno’s idyllic location, abutting the northern shore of scenic Lake Maggiore and ringed by the Swiss Alps, provided little protection from the ravages of COVID-19. Nazzaro, who previously served as the general delegate of the International Film Critics’ Week at the Venice Film Festival and is a member of the artistic committee of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, notes that Locarno “has its own identity - an avant-garde cutting-edge festival with a strong classicist vibe and lineups which provide discoveries and surprises.” Locarno’s lifetime achievement winners this year - including horror producer Jason Blum ( Get Out, Halloween), First Cow and Showing Up director Kelly Reichardt, experimental musician-artist-director Laurie Anderson and political cinema pioneer Costa-Gavras ( Z, Missing) - reflect the festival’s embracing spirit, celebrating cinema from the most avant-garde experimental to the most subversive of Hollywood genre films. “The main challenge is always to be fair towards those that submit their work and to be as focused as possible in trying to deliver the best possible selection while keeping alive a conversation among the members of the selection committee.” Nazzaro, who notes that “more than 3,000 films” were submitted for consideration for this year’s festival.
“Film festivals celebrate the talent of those involved in creating the films - they provide a creative hub for networking and exchanges, to keep the industry alive and offer professional opportunities to aspiring filmmakers and producers, they allow small films to be discovered and promoted,” says Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Up-and-coming helmers competing for the Golden Leopard include Germany’s Helena Wittmann, whose drama Human Flowers of Flesh will screen in competition Carlos Conceiçao, in Locarno with the Portuguese-French-Angolan war drama Tommy Guns and Italy’s Alessandro Comodin, attending the Swiss fest with the documentary dramedy The Adventures of Gigi the Law. Most of Locarno’s discoveries and surprises this year will likely be found in the festival’s main competition section, which will feature 17 world premieres, including the latest films by established masters such as Aleksander Sokurov (Russian-Belgian drama Fairytale), Patricia Mazuy (French police drama Bowling Saturn), Iraqi-French filmmaker Abbas Fahdel (the documentary Tales of the Purple House), Austria’s Nikolaus Geyrhalter (environmental doc Matter out of Place), Ming Jin Woo (the partially-animated Malaysian drama Stone Turtle), Azerbaijan director Hilal Baydarov (the drama Sermon to the Fish).