Locarno's Open Doors 2013 to focus on South Caucasus

The 2013 Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors programme will focus on the South Caucasus, the border reagion between Asia and Europe.

Open Doors, now in its 11th year, spotlights filmmakers and films from countries in the South and East where independent cinema is vulnerable.

The co-production lab will select a dozen projects in development from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The Festival is working with Joël Chapron, an expert in Russian, central Asian and East European cinema.

Also, this year’s initiative will launch a workshop for professionals, with one on one meetings as well as sessions on training and information.

The programme is supported by the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s Agency for Development and Cooperation and partners include ACE (Ateliers du cinéma européen), EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) and Producers Network Marché du Film (Festival de Cannes).

Several prizes are awarded in the programme.

Locarno will run Aug 7-17, 2013.