We were almost caught in the web. Between overlapping lockdowns and smart working, for eighteen months we have interacted with the rest of the world via our computer screens. In his new film, Mamoru Hosoda, our Locarno Kids Award winner, tells the story of a little girl who, on the web, becomes another person. In the world created by the Japanese master, the boundaries between reality and web are increasingly vanishing. With his magic touch, everyday realism intertwines with the touching poetry of the fantasy genre. We believe that today Belle is the most fitting film to interpret the relationship we entertain with our technological extensions, because we are all children who still have to learn to distinguish between truth and false. On the screen of Piazza Grande is indisputably the best place to reflect on these contemporary images. On the other hand, only Locarno could present the film of a director whose main job is goalkeeper for Iceland’s national football team! As if to say, there is more cinema in heaven, earth, and the world wide web than our philosophy can contemplate.
Giona A. Nazzaro
.svg)
