The Locarno Film Festival has a long tradition of rediscovering and promoting classic and heritage films, thanks to initiatives such as the magnificent Retrospective presented every year, as well as the Histoire(s) du Cinéma and Cinéma Suisse Redécouvert sections. Locarno Heritage is a program launched in 2020 (in the framework of Locarno Pro) with the aim of developing industry activities dedicated to classic cinema, thus creating a further connection between the Festival's Artistic Direction and Locarno Pro.
The project initially started with Heritage Online, an online networking platform that serves as a database of film titles that premiered over 15 years ago, Classic Film Rightholders, Distributors, Exhibitors and Streaming Services. It then also evolved into an in-person event, Heritage Monday, with activities entirely dedicated to the classic film industry, including screenings of new restorations and panel discussions, and for the past two years, with the Restoration Contest, a competition that offers the opportunity to restore a film from the past, thanks to the collaboration with the Zurich based Restoration Lab, Cinegrell.
Heritage Restoration Contest
Heritage Online Restoration Contest is a yearly open call for applications for international classic and library films in need of complete or partial restoration. The Restoration Contest, launched for the first time in February 2023, was open to feature films from all over the world that premiered in 2009 or before. This contest is possible thanks to a collaboration with Cinegrell, the winning film of the Heritage Online contest will then be the recipient of a complete, world-class restoration service. Call for application for 2023 is closed.
The winner
Mulher de verdade (1954) by Brazilian director Alberto Cavalcanti won the first ever Heritage Online Restoration Contest of the Locarno Film Festival. The film will enter a restoration process which will start right after the 76th Locarno Film Festival wraps and will end in the first semester of 2024. The restored film will then premiere at the next edition of the Festival in the Histoire(s) du cinéma: Heritage Online section.
Following an open call which lead to close to 30 submissions from 15 different countries, a jury composed of international film industry experts Paula Astorga (Locarno Open Doors Producers’ Lab Head of Studies), Frédéric Maire (Director at Cinémathèque Suisse), and K.J. Relth-Miller (Interim Director, Film Programs at Academy Museum) emphasized the relevance of the director in the LatAm and global cinematic heritage: “With this award we want to underline Alberto Cavalcanti’s importance and creative vision that shaped Brazilian filmmaking, leaving a lasting impact on the country’s cinematic heritage. We hope that the film will be rediscovered and widely diffused after Locarno77.”
