Locarno Film Festival Director Refutes 'Elitist' Cinema Label

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) In the run-up to the Locarno Film Festival, its artistic director, Giona Nazzaro, has called for cinema to be accessible to the general public. There should be no divide between arthouse filmmakers and the wider audience, he says in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. This content was published on July 18, 2026 - 11:10 3 minutes Keystone-SDA

Deutsch de Festivalleiter von Locarno stellt sich gegen ein“Elite”-Kino Original Read more: Festivalleiter von Locarno stellt sich gegen ein“Elite”

The notion that the Locarno Festival is reserved solely for those in the know persists. Festival director Giona Nazzaro brushes it aside with a wave of his hand. The preconception that films from Locarno never make it beyond Chiasso is wrong, and has always been wrong, he asserts a few days before the opening of the 79th edition.

Films discovered in Locarno often go on to enjoy success far beyond the shores of Lake Maggiore, says Nazzaro. He cites as an example Blue Heron, the debut feature film by Canadian director Sophy Romvary, an intimate family chronicle that was acquired by the American distributor Janus Films following the festival.

He also mentions Gioia Mia by the Italian director Margherita Spampinato, a portrait of Italian youth shot on a shoestring budget, which became one of the season's critical successes.“The problem isn't that Locarno is losing influence in the eyes of film lovers. Rather, it is that distributors sometimes lack curiosity,” he says.

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