Locarno, life and hope

by Manuele Bertoli, President of the State Council, Director of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport

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Locarno, life and hope

After distressing and difficult months, we can finally leave fears and worries behind us. Although cautiously, we can start fully savoring life and the world around us again. 

“But after I had reached a mountain’s foot, At that point where the valley terminated, Which had with consternation pierced my heart, Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders, Vested already with that planet’s rays Which leadeth others right by every road. Then was the fear a little quieted That in my heart’s lake had endured throughout The night, which I had passed so piteously” *, said Dante in his great poem. 

Likewise, the light that will make the screen shine under the stars of Locarno will allow us to regain life and hope. It will make us turn our thoughts towards what has been, rediscover ourselves, but above all it will help us reconnect with others and resume living the present. 

The Locarno Film Festival is called upon to be the forerunner in a courageous but essential path of rediscovery and regaining of freedom, assuming the role of cultural pioneer in line with its long international tradition. The challenge is of great importance. And we are ready to be enchanted. 

  * (Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Canto I, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) 

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