Work in progress during the Academy days in Locarno - 2021
Wayne, Marija, Sien, Chiara, Muhamed... These are just a few of the young people from the Locarno universe who in February will experience Berlinale Talents, the Berlin International Film Festival’s platform devoted to the future of the film industry. These 18 people have, over the past few years, taken part in our Academy in Locarno and São Paulo, the BaseCamp, Locarno Pro projects like Alliance 4 Development, Match Me! or First Look, the Hub and Lab platforms offered by Open Doors, or even the Pardi di domani competition. In short, they embody the full spectrum of the Locarno universe. On the one hand, this shows to what extent the Locarno Film Festival and Locarno Pro have a keen focus on younger generations and the future of the industry; on the other, it confirms how vital it to craft relationships for the sake of the future of the industry and festivals. This “migration” of young professionals from Locarno to Berlin, from Locarno to other festivals (or vice versa), is an essential opportunity for young professionals. It’s a chance to experience one’s own professional growth with continuity, through parallel, yet complementary opportunities. And such is the case for the industry overall, for the live cycle of a project or film that begins in Locarno and continues an international path that can last 12-24 months, via other festivals and markets.
A year ago, in January 2021, Locarno Pro emphasized this by launching new partnerships with over events: the Solothurn Film Festival, the Documentary Dream Center in Tokyo, the Sofia Meetings, the Meeting Point Vilnius, the Bergamo Film Meeting, the MIFC in Lyon, Ventana Sur (a market focusing mainly on Latin America) and, to conclude, the Rotterdam Lab at IFFR Pro 2022. We held talks about the distribution of classic cinema, meditated on the state of the industry and the mental and financial health of film professionals, and discussed the work access young people have within the industry. With the EFM in Berlin, we shared the organization of a podcast about mental health and two Think Tanks for the 2022 edition. Furthermore, we entered a strong partnership with the MIFC in Lyon to highlight Locarno’s mission (via the professional platform Heritage Online) to preserve and distribute classic films.
Synergy, collaboration, partnership, support: in times of temporal and physical separation, we must be guided by the vision of a more inclusive and collaborative industry, a less competitive one. After all, we work with the same professionals, for the same cause, in the name of the same thing: film.
Markus Duffner
Head of Locarno Pro
