The Locarno Film Festival keeps broadening its doors, its gaze and its editions for an event that aims to be more welcoming than ever. An essential collaboration in this regard is (and will be) the one with Pro Infirmis, which has started to help the Festival building an even more inclusive edition. The goal is to make the Festival feel like home for people with difficulties related to hearing, sight, mobility, cognitive or mental disorders, and age. A home where gender, age, religion and cultures are nothing more than the ingredients of an increasingly rich and educational sharing experience.
A Continuous Path
In this sense, the Festival confirmed and improved long standing projects, especially related to mobility and technological support for people with hearing impairments. An example of this is the successful collaboration with Regards Neufs, thanks to which five films of Locarno75 will be available with audio description for the visually impaired and and subtitles for people who are hard of hearing on the free application Greta:
- Bowling Saturne by Patricia Mazuy
Concorso internazionale – Firday, August 5, 16:45, Palexpo (FEVI)
Audio description and subtitling for the deaf and hearing impaired available in French
- L’Art du silence by Maurizius Staerkle Drux
Panorama Suisse – Monday, August 8, 11:00, Palexpo (FEVI)
Audio description and subtitling for the deaf and hearing impaired available in French
- La dérive des continents (au sud) by Lionel Baier
Fuori concorso Special Screening – Saturday, August 6, 15:30, PalaCinema 1
Audio description and subtitling for the deaf and hearing impaired available in French
- Last Dance by Delphine Lehericey
Piazza Grande – Monday, August 8, 21:30
Audio description for the deaf and hearing impaired available in French
- Yuku et la fleur d'Himalaya by Arnaud Demuynck e Rémi Durin
Locarno Kids: Screenings – Saturday, August 6, 17:00, PalaCinema 2 & 3
Audio description deaf and hearing impaired available in French
Besides, Locarno75 will be even more accessible during the evenings in the Rotonda by la Mobiliare, which has been conceived with an inclusive participation in mind, and providing support to all those in need, thanks to volunteers from Pro Infirmis Ticino and Moesano who will be on-site on August 5-7, 9-10, and 12. These initiatives will come to life during Locarno75 thanks to the brand new appointment of a person in charge of Diversity and Inclusion: Sara Bellicini, who was willing and able to take these new steps, and from now on will ensure concrete, continuous commitment to finding solutions and sharing a sensitivity that will make the Festival an increasingly welcoming workplace and event.
Relaxed Screenings
Locarno75’s new projects include three relaxed screenings, on August 9-12. It’s a different way to experience cinema, to be tested with the audience with a view to the future. The relaxed screenings will offer, to those who may benefit from it, a more relaxed environment, in a smaller venue, where the lights will remain low, the volume will be turned slightly down, and it will be possible to leave the room and return during the screening, as well as move or make noise if necessary, with no fear of bothering others. These are the three relaxed screenings scheduled during the Festival:
- Before I Change My Mind by Trevor Anderson
Concorso Cineasti del presente – Friday, August 12, 11:00, PalaCinema 2
- Fragments from Heaven by Adnane Baraka
Concorso Cineasti del presente – Wednesday, August 10, 13:30, PalaCinema 2
- Petites by Julie Lerat-Gersant
Concorso Cineasti del presente – Tuesday, August 9, 13:30, PalaCinema 2
Panel: Disability and Inclusion in the Audiovisual Industry
On Sunday, August 7, at 5.15 PM at the Forum @Spazio Cinema, Cuban director Daniela Muñoz Barroso, whose film Umbra is playing in the Open Doors shorts program, singer and Outlyer founder Emmanuel Kelly and Brazilian actor Giovanni Venturini will share their experience on working in the audiovisual industry with what is generally considered to be a disability and, together with Melanie Hoyes (Industry Inclusion Executive at the BFI) and Paola Pitton, from Pro Infirmis “Culture inclusive” service, will explore new and enriching possibilities of inclusion. The conversation, which will be moderated by Danielle Turkov and also livestreamed on the Festival website, will be in English, with simultaneous translation in Italian, French and Italian sign language. Additionally, thanks to Microsoft’s support and technologies, an automatic transcription of the conversation will be displayed in real time on the screen behind the panelists and will also be accessible on mobile devices via a web browser.
The Panelists:
- Daniela Muñoz, a director from Cuba, has lost most of her hearing and is almost completely unresponsive to high frequencies. As she herself says, she uses her eyes not only to see, but also to hear.
- Giovanni Venturini, Brazilian poet and actor who lives with dwarfism, main actor of Big Bang, by Carlos Segundo, playing in Pardi di domani: Concorso Corti d’autore.
- Paola Pitton, Head of Communication and of the Dance sector within Pro Infirmis “Culture inclusive” service.
- Melanie Hoyes. As Industry Inclusion Executive for BFI, Melanie endeavors to improve accessibility and equity in the UK film industry.
- Emmanuel Kelly is a part African and Middle Eastern musician. He is singer, producer and businessman with a vision and passion to change global perceptions through a creative and collaborative approach to life. Found as an infant in a box on a battlefield on the border of Iraq, he and his non-biological brother were raised in an orphanage until they both got adopted to Australia by humanitarian Moira Kelly, at the age of 4. In 2011 he won X-Factor Australia,began his singing career and founded The Outlyer Group, a company promoting inclusivity for the disabled and differently abled community in the film and entertainment industry.
He will perform live on Saturday, August 6 at 7 PM, at the Rotonda by la Mobiliare, after introducing the Outlyer Group to the public.
The conversation will be moderated by Danielle Turkov, founder and CEO of Think-Film Impact Production.
