The Locarno Film Festival has launched the Locarno Residency, aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers aged under 40 as they develop their first features.
The initiative will offer tutorial assistance, development support and a screenwriting programme to three directors of any nationality, who are in the process of developing a first fiction or non-fiction work of more than 60 minutes in length.
Ten shortlisted filmmakers and their projects, selected by Locarno’s artistic team, will attend a special pitching session in Locarno, during the festival’s 75th edition, running August 3-13. A jury will then select three projects for the actual residency programme.
A first mentoring session on developing treatments will take place in December in Venice, at the prestigious Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Switzerland in Milan.
A second session, lasting throughout March 2023, will be held near Locarno at the Eranos Foundation in Ascona-Moscia. The historic cultural centre on Lake Maggiore was created in 1928 by Dutch spiritualist and intellectual Olga Froebe-Kapteyn in collaboration with Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung as a place of exchange and reflection.
The focus at this second session will be on the screenplay, with support from residency tutors and input from the Locarno’s artistic team.
The projects will then be presented as part of the festival’s industry-focused Locarno Pro programme in 2023. The programme will culminate in cash prizes to support the completion of the projects.
The initiative is backed by Swiss insurance firm Swiss Life which is also a partner on the festival’s Leopards of Tomorrow short film section.
It expands the work of the festival’s two-day talent- nurturing event L’immagine e la parola, the ninth edition of which ran from March 12 to13 this year. Speakers included Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera, Indian filmmaker Gitanjali Rao and Italian director Michelangelo Frammartino.
“Dedicated as always to nurturing the professional skills of young creatives, the festival decided in its 75th anniversary year to set up the Locarno Residency,” said Locarno programmer Daniela Persico, who is the project manager on the initiative. “This new programme will certainly foster the growth of young talents through practical, hands-on assistance with their films.”
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