Locarno Pro is going to great lengths. In a year when it will not be possible for it to be the international film industry’s summer focal point, Locarno Pro will nevertheless be a virtual territory of meetings, exchanges and growth for auteur film professionals. From 5 to 11 August, Locarno Pro will propose four events or initiatives to accompany the industry to examine in depth an undoubtedly difficult year, yet seeking to develop ideas and proposals as a collective to continue working towards the future, walking in the same direction in which Locarno 2020 – For the Future of Films is pointing.
StepIn, in partnership with Variety
5, 6 and 7 August
If we talk about the future, we are talking about StepIn. In just few years it has confirmed its status as one of the most renowned international think tanks where film industry professionals can discuss the future, sharing experiences and visions and imagining together new behaviors, practices and business models. In a moment like 2020 post-lockdown, this very idea could prove fundamental to evaluate strategies and opportunities for the restart of the industry.
The StepIn 2020 virtual event, in collaboration with Variety, will be hosted in the Variety Streaming Room, with three 50 minutes sessions dealing, respectively, with the future of theatrical experience, production, and film festivals and markets. Each session will involve up to 5 international speakers, moderated by one of Variety journalists. The sessions are free to attend but require registration. Registration information will be posted at a later date.
All the information concerning the event will be available here during the following weeks.
Heritage Online
August 7, 8 and 9
Locarno Pro presents its new platform, unique and unprecedented on the international scene, to bring film heritage online. Active from the beginning of July, it will be a digital space where the past can mingle with the future. By accessing the Heritage Online portal, film heritage rightsholders will be able to share their catalog with potential buyers, the VOD platforms, from industry giants to the smallest realities. With access to this database, VOD professionals will be able to view detailed files, collect rights information and watch the proposed films, all year long. The aim, for both sides, is to bring the public the international film heritage, still little present in the VOD universe today.
During the days of Locarno Pro (7-9 August) the platform will come to life through a dedicated roundtable discussion, pitching sessions and meetings with interested professionals, which this year will take place online.
Here is all the information about the program.
Open Doors Hub and Lab
6-11 August
They are seventeen and come from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Mongolia. These are the 8 projects and 9 producers selected for the Open Doors Hub and Lab 2020. On its eighteenth anniversary Open Doors will be, as never before, at the center of the Locarno Film Festival.
Exploiting the potential of the web, the directors and producers invited for the Hub and Lab will be able to tell through individual online meetings a cinema that urgently needs to exist and grow. Among the selected projects there will be the first time of an animation film, some welcome returns, some well-known faces of international cinema and of course those promising young talents that are the reflection of Open Doors vision.
Details of the selected projects and participants are available here from today.
Open Doors is made possible by the collaboration of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
SwissBiz Round Table
10 August
A compass in the heart of the Swiss lockdown. Thanks to its collaboration with Cinébulletin, Locarno Pro offers professionals in the Swiss film industry an analysis of this delicate historical moment in order to understand the trajectories and strategies that can help keep alive national auteur cinema. Thanks to an online discussion of around 90 minutes taking place between selected speakers, with the overall conversation moderated by a Cinébulletin journalist, reflections will shine a spotlight on the circulation of films in Switzerland at the time of the lockdown. What are the opportunities offered by the VOD panorama? What are the best launch strategies for the reopening of theaters? What are the reflections in relation to Festival, TV, and distribution? What are the economic implications? The discussion will end with a conversation with the audience made up of key professionals and journalists.
More information available from mid-July.
www.locarnofestival.ch/Locarno-Pro
