We are ready for 2021. After the unusual and rich experience of Locarno 2020, which dealt with the emergency while guaranteeing opportunities that look to the East, Open Doors is ready to construct its own 2021, the final year of the cycle focusing on South-East Asia (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) and Mongolia.
The Locarno Film Festival sidebar that has been exploring filmmaking nations from the South and East of the world since 2003 is now ready to receive applications for the Open Doors Hub (the co-production platform) and the Open Doors Lab (a producer-centric workshop). Producers and directors from the countries in focus can apply from October 13 until January 31, 2021.
A coproduction platform designed to encourage international collaborations, bringing eight feature-length projects from the region (in teams of filmmaker and producer) into close contact with potential partners via tailored one-on-one encounters, with a view to fostering production and distribution of their films.
On August 10, 2021 the jury of the Open Doors section will award several prizes to works judged especially deserving of support, including the Open Doors Grant worth 50,000 Swiss francs, financed by the Swiss production support fund Visions Sud Est, which in turn is backed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) together with the City of Bellinzona, the CNC development award of 8,000 Euros and the ARTE Kino International Prize of 6,000 Euros.
A training workshop for nine producers or producer-directors from South-East Asia and Mongolia, focused on the development phase of projects and on the acquisition of best practice methods to work within the international film market, mentored by international industry professionals.
