Locarno Meets

What are the ethics of AI art? Can it ever be a tool of artistic liberation or are AI systems inherently extractive? Should artists surrender knowledge of these tools or should they try to master them so they are put to better use? These are some of the questions that came up in our conversation with filmmaker Paul Trillo, who has been experimenting with AI technologies for years. He was in Locarn...

The Portuguese filmmaker Edgar Pêra is an experimental artist in the truest sense of the word. Time and again, Pêra has embraced still-nascent technologies without hesitation and with enormous playfulness, as with early digital video or 3D. Whatever the technology, he then tries to use them as a “toy of consciousness”, paraphrasing Aldous Huxley. In this conversation on Locarno Meets, Pêra discuss...

In 1994, a young Swiss-French rising star named Irène Jacob and a legendary Polish auteur, Krzysztof Kieślowski, travelled to Locarno to present “Three Colors: Red” on the Piazza Grande, in front of an audience of thousands of jubilant spectators. 30 years later, Jacob, now herself an established legend of international arthouse and commercial filmmaking, returned to Locarno to present the film wh...

French-Algerian-Palestinian actress and filmmaker Lina Soualem has spent the past few artistically productive years co-writing a TV series (“Oussekine”, 2020) as well as directing the celebrated films “Their Algeria” (2020), about her French-Algerian grandparents and their fraught relationship with their homeland, and “Bye Bye Tiberias” (2023), about her mother, the celebrated Palestinian actress...

Following a successful premiere at South by Southwest, 24-year-old Swiss-American filmmaker Freddy Macdonald, the youngest directing fellow ever accepted to the American Film Institute, brought his audacious debut feature “Sew Torn” to the Piazza Grande at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.  We caught up with Macdonald on Locarno Meets during the Festival to discuss the unique genesis of the film, it...

“I think a lot of my work is about aspiring to something lofty. And then failing at it. Which I find funny”, says Alice Lowe, director and star of ‘Timestalker’, showed on the Piazza Grande at the 77th Locarno Film Festival. In a free-flowing conversation on her influences and artistic aspirations, Lowe – a major star of UK sketch comedy of the 2000s, director of “Prevenge” and co-writer of “Sight...

Joining us this week on Locarno Meets is Ehsan Khoshbakht, curator of a major retrospective focusing on Columbia Pictures during its heyday of 1929-59. A centerpiece of the 77th Locarno Film Festival, this 44-film program redefined and recontextualized the legendary Hollywood studio during the tenure of its famously tyrannical president and co-founder: Harry Cohn. In our wide-ranging conversation,...

After “All We Imagine As Light” triumphed at Cannes this year, taking home the Grand Prix, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia headed to the Locarno Film Festival to serve on the main competition jury alongside the likes of director Jessica Hausner and star Luca Marinelli. While she was in town, we invited her to join us for a chat on LocarnoMeets.  Kapadia took us through her journey from “A Night of...

Actress Paz Vega – one of the most recognizable faces of Spanish cinema – joins us for a conversation about her directorial debut: the piercing childhood drama “Rita”. This remarkable work, for which Vega served in a multitude of capacities – director, writer, executive producer, and in a prominent lead role – had its world premiere at the 77th Locarno Film Festival to acclaim from the audience an...

One of the most recognizable faces of British cinema, known best for “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, actor Nick Frost stopped over at Locarno to show his latest film, the centuries-spanning time travel romantic comedy “Timestalker”, on the Piazza Grande. While in town, he sat down for a conversation on Locarno Meets to discuss the genesis of this one-of-a-kind new movie, expound on his admirat...

One of the most beloved and influential directors of the past half century, Jane Campion – recipient of the Pardo d’Onore Manor at the 77th Locarno Film Festival –, joins us on Locarno Meets. Campion’s is a career of remarkable firsts, whether as the first woman to win the Palme d’Or or the first woman to be nominated twice for the Academy Awards for Best Director (winning for “The Power of the Do...

On Locarno Meets, we're joined by five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón, who shared some candid thoughts about his singular career while in Locarno to accept the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In an in-depth conversation with the podcast host Alex Miller, Cuarón opened up about his new Apple TV series  Disclaimer , starring Cate Blanchett, taking breaks from Hollywood with  Y tu ma...

A film 28 years in the making and shot across 24 countries, Tarsem’s gonzo masterpiece The Fall has long been woefully unavailable. The 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival saw a new 4K restoration, done in collaboration with MUBI, premiere on the 8,000-seat Piazza Grande in Locarno. For this episode of our podcast Locarno Meets, Tarsem sat down for an in-depth discussion of this great UFO of...

There are no words to introduce Shah Rukh Khan, the Baadshah of Bollywood, recipient of the Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival. He is one of the biggest and most beloved movie stars in the world; for billions of people around the world, his name is virtually synonymous with legendary films of all descriptions – romances, comedies, action fil...

This week on #LocarnoMeets, we're joined by Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Institute, as he reflects on his decades-long relationship with the famous festival in Park City, Utah, beginning with his first visit in 1993. He underscores Sundance's roots as a supporter of independent storytelling, dating back to its founding principles established by Robert Redford, and highlights the Inst...

This week on #LocarnoMeets, we're joined by filmmakers María Gisèle Roya and Julia De Castro, whose feature debut together "On the Go" premiered in Cineasti del Presente. Theirs is a bold homage to Spanish cinema of the '80s, specifically Gonzalo Garcia Pelayo's "Corridas de la Gria". Shot in 16mm, this irreverent and energetic road movie concocts an adventure playground-like narrative around a bu...

This week on #LocarnoMeets, Greek filmmaker Sofia Exarchou discusses her second feature film, "Animal", which looks at the lives of so-called "animators" at beach hotels in Greece. The film explores the challenges these employees face in a demanding job that requires constant high energy and unwavering smiles. These people use their bodies to convey raw emotions, making their physical movements a...

Production designer Amos Sussigan, who served on the festival Pardi di Domani jury, engages in a thoughtful conversation about his work on Animal Farm and broader insights into the animation industry. He delves into the intricacies of character design, highlighting the challenges of capturing individuality while avoiding cartoonish stereotypes, drawing on his varied experience, including Space Jam...

In a rich and provocative conversation, filmmaker Eduardo Williams discusses "The Human Surge 3," the would-be sequel to his 2016 work. This time, he shot it with 360-degree cameras, making for a singular cinematic experience. He describes the interplay between script and improvisation that forms the backbone of his process, as well as the inherently political nature of cinema and the significant...

Austin actress and writer Katie Folger shines in the ensemble cast of Family Portrait, a unique film about a Texas family's struggle to get a group photo. The production took an unconventional approach, reflected in both the casting and the visual language of the film. With room to experiment, Katie valued the immersive, "dream-like" shooting experience over traditional rehearsals and a strict scr...

Explore the captivating world of director Moussa Sene Absa, best known for his trilogy of films portraying Senegalese women. Absa, a true artist at heart - director, composer, painter - shares insights into his dynamic and insightful filmmaking process. Drawing parallels between himself and a bird, he navigates seamlessly between mediums, intuitively choosing to express his emotions through pencil...

Renowned film producer and former Head of Movies at Amazon Studios, Ted Hope, embarks on a compelling conversation challenging the evolving role of platforms in the film industry. With a career marked by transformative moments, including bringing Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch to Amazon, Hope questions the pervasive influence of streaming platforms. He advocates a shift in perspective, urging the reco...

Join us for an exploration of resilience, creativity and the transformative power of cinema in the lives of our inspiring guests: director Gloria Carrión and producer Nadean Rawlins, both participants in the 2023 Open Doors Hub program focused on Latin America and the Caribbean.   Gloria shared her journey from the 2018 civil uprising in Nicaragua to the creation of Leaves of K., a film born out o...

Dive into the future of cinema in our latest podcast with Brian Newman, former Tribeca CEO and founder of Sub-Genre, as he looks at the future of film, festivals and streaming platforms through a new way of funding.   Through his company Sub-Genre, Brian explores the ever-evolving relationship between brands and cinema, working to bridge the gap and turn brand engagement into a new form of cinema,...

Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott, Michael Bay, Gus Van Sant... these are just some of the iconic filmmakers who have called on award-winning editor Pietro Scalia to help them realise their visions. With a career spanning over 30 years, 2 Oscars and many more awards, Scalia has helped shape some of the most iconic films in Hollywood history, "Gladiator", "Black Hawk Down" and "JFK" to name but a few. In...