The winners of the Open Doors 2022 awards

For the past 20 years, Open Doors has served as a bridge between filmmakers from particular regions and audiences and professionals at the Locarno Film Festival. Open Doors continues to engage proactively in bringing greater diversity to the filmmaking scene, and offers space and visibility for perspectives and debates beyond the established. 

In its anniversary edition, Open Doors launched a new three-year focus (2022-2024) dedicated to Latin American and Caribbean countries. As part of the industry program Locarno Pro, Open Doors hosted 8 feature film projects seeking international partners (Projects' Hub), 9 creative producers (Producers' Lab) and 17 directors and their films at the Open Doors Screenings, all from the focus region.

The names of the winners, receiving monetary and in-kind awards to support the development and production of their films, were announced during today's awards ceremony in Locarno.

The daily Open Doors Screenings program, which features a wide range of fiction, documentary, and animated films from Central America and the Caribbean, will continue until the Festival closes on Saturday, 13 August. The 10 short films from the program are also available online, worldwide and for free during the entire festival period at play.locarnofilmfestival.ch.

Prize winners

Open Doors Grant

An incentive for production or project development, offered by the Swiss production support fund visions sud est (backed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC) together with the City of Bellinzona. 

Open Doors Grant (CHF 35,000) to:

• MOA
  by Marcel Beltrán
  produced by Paula Gastaud, Mediocielo Films
  Cuba, Brazil                                                                

Open Doors Grant (CHF 15,000) to:  

• Muchachos Bañándose en el lago (Kids Swimming in the Lake)
  by Michael Labarca
  produced by Patricia Ramírez Arévalo, Todos Los Ríos
  Venezuela

Development grant CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (€ 8,000) to:

• Diamante (Diamond)
  by Yashira Jordán
  produced by Alvaro Olmos Torrico, EmpatiaCinema
  Bolivia

ARTE Kino International Prize (€ 6,000) to: 

• MOA
  by Marcel Beltrán
  produced by Paula Gastaud, Mediocielo Films
  Cuba, Brazil     

Open Doors – Sørfond Award

A prize to participate in the Pitching from the South platform of the Norwegian fund Sørfond to: 

• Diamante (Diamond)
  by: Yashira Jordán
  produced by: Alvaro Olmos Torrico, EmpatiaCinema
  Bolivia

One of the Lab participants is offered the opportunity to take part in the training workshop Rotterdam Lab during the IFFR Pro 2023:

• Illari Orcottoma
  production company: Maldeojos
  Peru

Open Doors – BR Lab Award 

A new partnership offering travel, accommodation and participation in the BR Lab project development program in November 2022:

• Kokue
  by Miguel Agüero
  produced by Cynthia García Calvo, Asociación Cultural Arraigo / CYAN prods
  Paraguay

Open Doors – World Cinema Fund Award

A new collaboration with the World Cinema Fund, which awards a participant in the Projects’ Hub or the Producers’ Lab from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia or Grenada, with a specific program tailored and geared to closely follow the development of an audience engagement strategy

• Cuando Cae la lluvia (When Rain Falls)
  Directed and produced by Yanillys Pérez, YPR Films
  Dominican Republic

Open Doors – OIF – ACP – EU Award  

This new collaboration provides a project or participant from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Grenada with a mix of story-editing and co-production strategy support, advice on the development and refinement of the film dossier, based on the specific needs of the awarded project.

• Black Madonna
  Directed and produced by Michelle Serieux
  Imagine Caribbean

Open Doors – LEXIA Insights Award 

For the first year, this collaboration with experienced professionals will provide the awardee with research tools and methodologies to fine-tune the project's pitch, script, dossier, mood board and teaser.

• Ñusta
  produced by Daniela Fuentes Moncada
  Epopeya S.A.
  Ecuador

• Laura y el Calabozo
  produced by Ricardo B'atz'
  Cayaguanca Films
  El Salvador

Open Doors - Moulin d’Andé-CECI Award

A writing residency offered to an emerging director who took part in Open Doors 2022 (Hub, Lab or Screenings), enabling them to continue working on writing and development of their project.

• Black Madonna
  Directed and produced by Michelle Serieux
  Imagine Caribbean

Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur / Villa Sträuli Residency 
Two-month residency at Villa Sträuli, Winterthur. The winner is chosen from among the participants in the sections of Open Doors, Pardi di domani and the Filmmakers Academy of the Locarno Film Festival 2022 coming from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, who are developing their first or second feature films. 

• José Luis Aparicio Ferreira 
  Cuba
  Selected with his short film TUNDRA at the Open Doors Screenings  

Since its beginnings in 2003, Open Doors has been organized in cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

In addition to the partners mentioned above, Open Doors enjoys the support and collaboration of the following other European and international organizations:

European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), ACE Producers, Produire au Sud - Festival des Trois Continents, Festival Scope Pro, Doha Film Institute, Dominican Republic Film Commission, Costa Rica Film Commission, JAMPRO, Centro Costarricense de Producción Cinematográfica, ACM (Arts Council of Mongolia) and Ulaanbaatar International Film Festival, AFiS Busan Asian Film School.