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71st Locarno Film Festival
On the evening of 1 August, Alain Berset opens the 71st festival at the Scuola Magistrale, after Mayor Alain Scherrer and State Councillor Manuele Bertoli, then attends the first screening on the Piazza Grande. His speech, in three languages, celebrates the 50 years of the Leopard, created in 1968 by the sculptor Remo Rossi, and recalls the Cannes festival interrupted in May 68, where Jean-Luc Godard “climbed the curtains”.
On 2 August, before the media, he takes stock of the Culture Dispatch 2016–2020 and announces the lines of the next one: cultural participation, social cohesion, creation and innovation. The creative economy employs some 275,000 people and generates 22 billion francs of value added a year. The Youth and Music programme reached more than 8,500 children and young people in 2017.
On 3 August, the culture minister’s traditional lunch with the film industry at Monte Verità, in Ascona. He spins the metaphor of “Groundhog Day”: this “Leopard day” is one he is living for the seventh time. Then the Federal Office of Culture’s aperitif, where he speaks about “fake news” and about culture, “authentic beyond mere reality”. On 4 August, he meets foreign cultural journalists at the invitation of Presence Switzerland.
Wednesday 1 August 2018 — Locarno
- Meeting with Marco Solari, President, and Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of the festival
- Inauguration ceremony at the Scuola Magistrale
- Opening on the Piazza Grande
Thursday 2 August 2018 — Locarno
- Meeting with the media: Culture Dispatch 2021–2024
- Screening on the Piazza Grande
Friday 3 August 2018 — Ascona and Minusio
- Swiss film lunch at Monte Verità
- Federal Office of Culture aperitif, Minusio
Saturday 4 August 2018 — Locarno
- Meeting with foreign press journalists (Presence Switzerland)
Speeches on this site
- Ouverture du 71e Festival du film de Locarno (French-language page)
- Déjeuner du cinéma suisse au Monte Verità (French-language page)
- Apéritif de l’Office fédéral de la culture au Festival de Locarno (French-language page)
Sources