Panama-Locarno Industry Academy International, 2019
It's a continental Academy. In a year 2020 that is about to end, with appointments that were canceled, reimagined or rescheduled, the Locarno Industry Academy International wanted to strengthen itself with a new project in Latin America: the Locarno Industry Academy America Latina. This new project will nurture the Academies in São Paulo, Santiago de Chile, Panama and Morelia.
With support from the IBERMEDIA program, the aim of the project is to consolidate the film industry in the region, strengthening and assisting cohesion in the community of young professionals who have been establishing themselves over the past five years, thanks to the various activities set up in these countries. United in a single organization, the four Academies will enjoy increased visibility, allowing them to enhance their reach and impact. This view was certainly shared by most of the participants in the online edition of the Industry Academy America Latina, who expressed an urgent need for local and regional strategies, especially for Latin American films. That is precisely the objective which the Industry Academy America Latina project managers are working on as a team, designing and running every workshop as part of a joint regional program.
Despite everything, 2020 has been a valuable year for the structure and the future of the Locarno Industry Academy International. As well as proving itself robust and able to react positively to the inevitable reshuffling of its program of events, the Industry Academy has strengthened its presence in Latin America, in a concrete display of solidarity with the difficult situation currently being experienced in the region.
“The global pandemic – remarks Marion Klotz, International Project Manager since 2014 – obliged us to reshape our program so as to continue to offer high-quality training through the participation of top-level professionals. Together with each Industry Academy and their respective project managers we developed dedicated workshops taking into account both the situation facing the film industry in the region and the needs of specific filmmaking situations on the ground. The community of young professionals reacted enthusiastically to the online proposal, which exceeded our expectations. The situation is not ideal of course, we miss physical encounters, but we cannot deny the benefits of this digital move. This year we managed to reach a diversity of profiles and countries of origin that we did not have before, thanks to the non-presential format."
During the two new online editions held in Brazil (10-18 November) and in Chile (10-18 December), participants were able and will be able to benefit from the knowledge and insight of key players in the international industry such as Fiorella Moretti (Lux Box), Bobby Allen (MUBI), Sarah Calderon (The Film Agency) and Anne Delseth (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight), as well as established professionals in the region, including Paula Astorga (Circo 2. 12), Gerardo Michelin (Latam Cine – media partner for Industry Academy America Latina) and Sandra Gomez (Interior XIII / MUBI), who is one of the regional Project Managers for the Industry Academy Latin America, alongside Julia Duarte and Erick Gonzalez.
Since it was first set up in Latin America in 2015, the Locarno Industry Academy International has developed a network in 4 countries with front-rank partners and film festivals, mentoring more than a hundred young professionals:
