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© Locarno Film Festival / Ti-Press
For the second of its three-year cycle, Open Doors this year focused on the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. A total of eight projects in development were selected for its coproduction platform, the Projects’ Hub, along with eight creative producers who participated in the program’s talent incubator, the Producers’ Lab. Together with the directors of films of the Open Doors Screenings, who form the Directors’ Club, they make up the full selection of the program.
The Projects’ Hub jury consisted of Madeline Robert, Manager of visions sud est; Artistic Director of Fribourg International Film Festival Thierry Jobin; Michel Plazanet, Deputy Director of International Affairs at CNC; Head of Projects at ARTE France Cinema Eva Pons; and Lasse Skagen, Head of Programming at the Films from the South Festival. Together, they decided on the following winners:
Open Doors Grant
A total of CHF 50’000 sponsored by visions sud est (with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), the City of Bellinzona and the Open Doors initiative.
CHF 25’000 to Pantasma
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras
Directed by Gloria Carrión, produced by Leonor Zúniga
CHF 20’000 to Tres balas (Three Bullets)
Dominican Republic
Directed by Génesis Valenzuela, produced by Wendy Espinal
CHF 5’000 to Desidia
Bolivia, Chile
Directed by Leandro Grillo, produced by Alejandra Antequera
CNC Development Grant
EUR 8,000 for development provided by CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée
LOA. Mata a tus amos (LOA. Kill Your Masters)
Venezuela, Puerto Rico
Directed and produced by Carlos Zerpa
Prix ArteKino International
EUR 6,000 for development provided by ARTEKino.
Tres balas (Three Bullets)
Dominican Republic
Directed by Génesis Valenzuela, produced by Wendy Espinal
Sørfond Award
Participation in the project to the Sørfond pitching event in November including travel and accommodation.
Libertinas (Libertines)
El Salvador, Peru
Directed by Leslie Ortiz, produced by Adriana Morán
Additionally, several of Open Doors’ partners provided awards to participants across the three program strands:
Rotterdam Lab Award
Provided by the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). One of the Producers’ Lab participants is offered the opportunity to take part in the next Rotterdam Lab, including accommodation covered by the International Film Festival Rotterdam along with a contribution to the travel's costs by the Locarno Film Festival.
Ivana Urízar, Cine Mío (Paraguay)
Open Doors – BR Lab Award
Participation at the project development workshop BR Lab in Sao Paulo in November with travel and accommodation covered, provided by BR Lab.
El último rey (Last of Kings)
Peru, Mexico, Germany
Directed by Victor Checa, produced by Jimena Ospina
Open Doors – World Cinema Fund Audience Strategy Award
The award provided by World Cinema Fund offers a specific program tailored and geared to closely follow the development of an audience engagement strategy, to a participant from a country in the ACP region and part of the Open Doors focus.
Tres balas (Three Bullets)
Dominican Republic
Directed by Génesis Valenzuela, produced by Wendy Espinal
Open Doors – OIF – ACP – EU Award
This collaboration provides a project or participant from an ACP country of the focus region with a consultancy for up to 18 months, script/treatment analysis, story editing and polishing of the film dossier based on the specific needs of the awarded project. Provided by the Organisation Internationale Francophonie (OIF) and Initiative Film.
Jamaica
Directed by Gibrey Allen, produced by Nadean Rawlins
Open Doors – LEXIA Insights Award
This collaboration with experienced professionals will provide the awardee with research tools and methodologies to fine-tune the project's pitch, script, dossier, mood board and teaser.
Via Láctea (Milky Way)
Costa Rica, Uruguay
Directed by Paz Fábrega, produced by Federico Moreira
Open Doors - Moulin d’Andé-CECI Award
Writing residency for the director of a first or second feature film project in development, with accommodation covered and a contribution to travel costs, provided by the Moulin d’Andé-CECI and the Locarno Film Festival
Carlos Ormeño Palma, La Fiebre Films (Peru)
During the Festival’s Independent Juries Award Ceremony on August 12, the Junior Jury will present a special award worth CHF 2,000 for the Short Film in the Open Doors Screenings that best illustrates the concept “Environment is quality of life”.
The Open Doors Screenings, part of the Festival’s Official Selection and this year presenting feature-length, mid-length and short films and their makers from South America, will continue until Saturday 12 August.
The Open Doors initiative was launched by the Locarno Film Festival in 2003, in subsequent collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). For more than 20 years, Open Doors’ mission has been to support artists from underrepresented communities around the world, and from countries in which cinema and art as a form of expression are at risk.
Offering a multi-faceted space for nurturing film talents, it has developed an array of programs for training, learning and networking for film professionals, as well as public screenings and events - during the Locarno Film Festival and all year long.