How would you describe it to the public?
«The neat thing about illustrations is, they open up the doors of imagination. With mine, I wanted to use the leopard, who takes off their hat to greet the audience and inaugurate the Festival, but also the Pardino, the smaller one. And the Piazza Grande icons, the booth with its ray of light, and the screen. And the eye, which is a director, a viewer. It’s cinema. A tear generates an optical illusion, it breaks lines and contributes to the creation of this landscape I built around a surreal atmosphere where everything is possible. Just like at the movies.»
What’s your relationship with cinema?
«I’m not a cinephile, I’m not that knowledgeable, and I don’t watch contemporary stuff: I’m always in the past, discovering films from the previous century without ever giving in to newer titles. In high school, I was impressed by Surrealism and Expressionism, and I think my image has those influences. Look at the shadows, for example… Generally speaking, I’m in love with the 1950s and ‘60s. It’s an age where everything one could do was done, and to a degree they created eternity, as in images and worlds that do not age. I think it was a creative moment fueled by the perfect mixture of passion, skill, respect, tools, and freedom. I always go back to that time, revisiting the archive I’ve put together over the years.»
Have you ever been to Locarno?
«Never. I’m thrilled to do it this year, in such a strange manner: it’s my first time, and I’ll be on display everywhere. A double first time, because I’ve never seen my work like that before.»
If you could choose, what film would you show in Piazza Grande?
«Bresson’s Pickpocket [editor’s note: it played in Locarno in 1983 as part of the Alain Tanner Carte Blanche].»
What is a poster?
«A format within which precise elements – typeface and illustration – must coexist to create an image that sums up a universe. But it has to go beyond that. It has to connect with the receptors of the viewer and stay there, summoning other worlds of imagination.»
There it is, the Locarno Film Festival.