Claude Goretta was born in Geneva in 1929, and died there in 2019. After first making a name for himself as a cinephile, film critic and documentarian, during the 1960s he gradually became one of the key names in New Swiss Cinema, with films such as The Invitation (1973), which won the Jury Prize in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar; The Lacemaker (1977), which received the Ecumenical Jury Prize in Cannes; La provinciale (1980), which screened at the Berlinale; The Death of Mario Ricci (1980), which won the Best Actor award in Cannes; and Si le soleil ne revenait pas (1987), which played in competition in Venice. In 2011, he received the Locarno Film Festival's Pardo alla carriera.
Dopo un virtuoso apprendistato da cinéphile, critico cinematografico e documentarista, a partire dagli anni Settanta Claude Goretta (Ginevra, 1929 - ivi, 2019) è stato uno dei maggiori esponenti del nuovo cinema svizzero, firmando, tra gli altri, L’invito (1973), Premio della giuria a Cannes e candidato all’Oscar, La merlettaia (1977), Premio della giuria ecumenica a Cannes, La provinciale (1980), presentato a Berlino, La morte di Mario Ricci (1983), premio al miglior attore a Cannes, e Si le soleil ne revenait pas (1987), in concorso a Venezia. Nel 2011 il Locarno Film Festival gli ha tributato il Pardo alla carriera.
