Locarno Festival, Zurich Film Festival and Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans join forces to launch «Connect to Reality». The new trilateral initiative, built as a national think tank, is meant as an investigative tool for Swiss industry professionals, in order to analyze the challenges of development, production and distribution of their films. It aspires to contribute to the success of Swiss productions, both at home and abroad.
A natural development from the event StepIn/ch, initiated by Locarno Festival and organized in collaboration with Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans since 2016, "Connect to Reality" was born out of shared observations between the three festivals.
Nadia Dresti, Locarno's Deputy Artistic Director and Head of International, is convinced that "the Festivals in Locarno, Zurich and Geneva are predestined to create an ongoing national think tank. The encounters will improve the common understanding of necessary reforms in order to significantly and permanently increase the presence of Swiss movies national and international theatres.”
Emmanuel Cuénod, Director of the Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans, adds: "It seems crucial to analyze the present system of creation, production and distribution of Swiss films. We want to find ways to adapt the current incentive system and raise it to meet market requirements and the most prestigious international film festivals' expectations.”
Karl Spoerri, Zurich Film Festival’s Artistic Director, welcomes this approach: "Indeed, the digital transformation and audiences' changing viewing habits set a challenge to rethink the production and exploitation of audiovisual content."
Through three annual events, whose results will be shared in a joint publication, "Connect to Reality" aims to become a laboratory of ideas for Swiss cinema.The questions surrounding the distribution of Swiss movies will be in focus during the Locarno Festival's Industry Days. Film production will be discussed at the Zurich Film Festival, and the challenges related to procedures of films creation will be at the heart of the debate during the Geneva Digital Market at the Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans. The contributions of the participating professionals will be provided to all actors from the audiovisual domain as well as all representatives of media.
“Connect to Reality” in Locarno is supported by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) in the context of the MEDIA compensatory measures and sustained by the SSA (Société Suisse des Auteurs) and Suissimage.
Information:
Nadia Dresti, Deputy Artistic Director and Head of International, Locarno Festival, press@pardo.ch
Reta Guetg, Head of Industry, Programmer, Zurich Film Festival, media@zff.com
Emmanuel Cuénod, Director, Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans, press@tous-ecrans.com
Connect to Reality: Locarno Festival – 5.8.2017
Connect to Reality: Zurich Film Festival – 2.10.2017
Connect to Reality: Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans – 7.11.2017
