The Locarno Film Festival will continue to benefit from federal support for the 2027-2029 period. The Federal Office of Culture has renewed its service contract with the Ticino event, confirming its recognition of its role within the Swiss cultural system.
The decision comes at the end of an evaluation process that led federal authorities to recognize the Festival's role as a national benchmark, based on its ability to maintain a strong international profile without losing its ties to the region and the country's cultural context.
For the Locarno Film Festival, this confirmation represents an element of continuity as the event approaches its eightieth edition.
A recognition included in the federal cultural policy
The renewal of support is part of the Confederation's cultural policy for the period 2025-2028. This policy gives cultural activities a function that goes beyond simple artistic production, identifying culture as a tool for participation, discussion, and social cohesion.
In this context, the Locarno Film Festival is recognized as a space capable of connecting audiences, authors, audiovisual industry professionals, institutions, and new generations.
The renewal of the service contract therefore consolidates a collaboration that concerns not only the annual organization of the event, but also the value generated by the numerous activities developed throughout the year.
The Confederation's support for Swiss cinema and the Locano Film Festival: an international dimension
One of the central aspects of the Locarno Film Festival's activity concerns the relationship between Swiss film production and international circuits. Through its programming and opportunities for industry professionals to meet, the event contributes to the visibility of the country's works and authors beyond national borders.
The Festival also represents a platform through which Swiss cinema can connect with markets, professionals, and entities from other countries, encouraging the circulation of productions and the exchange of different cultural and industrial models.
This function complements the traditional focus on discovering new authors and films, an element that has accompanied the event's history since its inception.
Almost eighty years of cinema and new generations
As it approaches eightieth anniversary, the Locarno Film Festival continues to build its identity around artistic freedom, research, and the intersection of different languages and cultures.
The festival's activities don't end with the summer festival. Throughout the year, programs are developed to support emerging talent, educate, and introduce younger generations to the language of cinema.
This dimension helps define the Festival's role even beyond its core programming. Cinema thus becomes a starting point for educational, professional, and cultural activities that engage diverse audiences.
The special role in a multilingual Switzerland
The reaffirmation of federal support takes on a special significance given Switzerland's linguistic and cultural makeup. In a country characterized by the coexistence of diverse communities and sensibilities, the Festival serves as a meeting point and a forum for dialogue between different realities.
Locarno thus continues to represent one of the places where the local dimension interacts directly with the international one. This relationship, over the years, has helped define the event's position in the European and global film industry.
In announcing the decision, the Locarno Film Festival expressed satisfaction with the renewed confidence of the Federal Office of Culture, underscoring the importance of public support for the continued development of its activities and cultural mission.
Towards the 80th edition
The next symbolic step will be represented by the 80th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, scheduled from 4 to 14 August 2027.
The confirmation of the performance contract for the three-year period 2027-2029 therefore offers the event the prospect of continuity beyond the anniversary, as the Festival prepares to open a new chapter in its history.
For Ticino, but also for the entire Swiss audiovisual sector, the Confederation's decision strengthens its recognition of an event that, over the course of nearly eight decades, has maintained its ability to transform cinema into an opportunity for discovery, discussion, and the circulation of ideas.
The milestone of its eightieth edition will thus be accompanied by the confirmation of institutional support destined to continue until 2029, providing the Locarno Film Festival with a framework for the coming years and continuing its work between cinema, education, the search for new talent, and international dialogue.
