The 75th edition of the Locarno . Film Festival ended yesterday, Saturday, August 13. During the eleven days, 128,500 spectators and spectators attended the proposed projections, an increase of 60.4% compared to last year: in Piazza Grande there were 56,500, while in the cinemas 72,000. As for industry professionals, there were 3,530 accreditations, including online, of which 1,380 were representatives of the film industry and 706 were journalists and photographers. The results of the online proposal were also excellent: 160,279 visitors from all over the world and 2,113,080 page views were registered on the festival’s official website.
President Marco Solari officially closed the 75th Locarno Film Festival:
This anniversary has built a tangible bridge between our tradition and the innovation we want to continue to be a world-class festival. The choice to build a program open to other initiatives and languages also turned out to be a winning choice, confirming the city, the region and the canton as a precious cultural reference point and giving the public both the opportunity to experiment and the fun to relive the most popular experiences in freedom. In these eleven days, we have experienced first-hand people’s desire to participate and their desire to remain a part of the Festival: there could be no better gift to celebrate 75 years of history.
The Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro commented:
The prizes awarded by both the jury and the public reflect the vision that guided our artistic choices. At Locarno75, cinema proved to be an indispensable tool for dealing with the unspeakable trauma, for coming closer to what seems far away and for shaping the complexity of reality by incorporating diversity into it. The reaction of the public and its openness to the possibilities of audiovisual language are the preconditions to continue on this path, to continue to explore the trends and to anticipate the trends of an art which, as the history of Locarno shows, always manages to find means of expression. to speak in the present.
The general manager Raphaël Brunschwig has made a first assessment of the edition:
As was our intention, Locarno75 was a richer edition than ever and characterized by a declared balance between innovation and tradition. We are even more convinced that the August event is the fulcrum around which to develop a true universe of initiatives and events, the backbone capable of supporting who we are and what we want to become. The packed houses for the Retrospective films proved this, as did the youthful momentum of the Atelier du Futur and the BaseCamp. With our team, which is at the heart of the success of this special edition, we are ready to accompany our audience also in the other months of the year, in a permanent laboratory that does not close today, but starts again with the eye on Locarno76.
The days and activities dedicated to film industry professionals, organized by Locarno Pro and Open Doors, also ended in the past few days. The two managers, Markus Duffner and Zsuzsi Bánkuti, have made a positive assessment of this edition, in which the face-to-face and online activities have allowed all professionals in the sector to participate in the work. Locarno thus reaffirms itself as an important international platform for the film industry, and a place for dialogue and encounter to build the cinema of tomorrow.
The Palmarès of the 2022 festival, as well as the articles, the photo gallery, the conversations between the public and the honored personalities and the episodes of the new podcast Future visions are available at www.locarnofestival.ch. The 76th Locarno Film Festival will take place from 2 to 12 August 2023.
Source: Lega Nerd
