President Marco Solari: “The Locarno Film Festival has emerged strengthened from the crisis of the last two years”.
Yesterday, Monday 25 April, the ordinary meeting of Locarno Film Festival. An opportunity to take stock of the past edition and above all to preview the project of the 75th Festival, staged in Locarno from 3 to 13 August 2022.
As recalled by the artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro and by the operational director Raphaël Brunschwig, the next edition will be an opportunity to celebrate the history of the event, but also to look to the future with a new concept of Festival, whose features have been deepened main.
The statements
The president of the Locarno Film Festival Marco Solari opened the Assembly by emphasizing the last two years of the Festival and noting how the event has come out stronger than before thanks not only to the support of public and private institutions but also and above all to the public's trust. “The two years of the pandemic represented a threat to all cultural events with the public. Our Festival has been able to count on not only moral but also material support from political institutions and economic partners and the loyalty of its audience. Paradoxically, the Locarno Film Festival emerges strengthened by the crisis. Its cohesive and highly motivated team is ready to defend the position and prestige of the event in all national and international areas. " - Marco Solari, president of the Locarno Film Festival
Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, explained his vision of Locarno 2022: “The Locarno Film Festival continues to be a privileged interlocutor of contemporary cinema. The trust of the community of directors and producers is even stronger than before. The outcome of the 74th edition allowed us not only to maintain but also to broaden our position. The works for the next edition are proceeding expeditiously. A Festival that is gearing up for the future, ready to be physical and “liquid”, in line with the transformations of the industry and the renewed needs of new audiences. All this by always strengthening, tirelessly, the present Festival event, the cornerstone of the Ticino communities and the Swiss Top Event ”. - Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival.
The figures of the Locarno Film Festival
Raphaël Brunschwig, chief operating officer of the Locarno Film Festival, then illustrated the financial year 2021. The Festival closes the 74th edition with a final balance of 14.5 million francs and, thanks to exceptional savings measures, in perfect balance. The budget for the 75th edition includes a budget of 14.5 million francs with a deficit of around CFH 895. Reserves will have to be drawn up. "We have emerged strengthened by perhaps one of the most difficult two years that the Locarno Film Festival has ever gone through and we are ready to face not only a special edition like that of the 000th anniversary, but also the biggest challenge, that of sustainability and future relevance. of the event. Thanks to the proximity of our public and private partners, in parallel with the strengthening of the physical edition of the Festival, we are proceeding with the expansion of activities beyond the geographical and temporal boundaries of the summer event ". - Raphaël Brunschwig, operative director of the Locarno Film Festival.
The Assembly then acknowledged that the Board of Directors designated Nadia Dresti and Giovanni Merlini as new members of the Board of Directors, while Fabienne Merlet, Head of Communications and Marketing, as the new member of the management.
How to access the 75th edition of the Locarno Film Festival
During the Assembly, the methods of access to Piazza Grande and to the rooms that will be in force during the 75th edition were also specified. The public will be able to enter the square and the rooms in complete freedom with a valid ticket, as is the tradition of the event. In Piazza Grande, in addition to the free session, the usual sector will be available, accessible with seat reservation. To meet the needs of the public, which for some years has shown appreciation of the possibility of reserving a seat in the halls, tickets for the entire program will be available for purchase in the days preceding the Festival until a few minutes before the screening. Those in possession of a season ticket can reserve a seat for free in the rooms.
In addition to the traditional rooms, for the 75th anniversary, the Otello of Ascona.
The purchase of the chairs
Finally, the initiative conceived by Festival on the occasion of the renewal of the chairs in the Piazza. The Swiss municipalities were asked to purchase one or more chairs at the price of 150 CHF. Municipalities of all Swiss cantons joined without exception and more than 850 chairs were sold.
