The 76th Locarno Film Festival kicked off on August 2 in the Swiss lake town. The event, which is running until August 12, is the first international film festival to suffer the impact of the SAG-AFTRA-WGA strike.
British actor Riz Ahmed, who was set to receive the Davide Campari Excellence Award, cancelled his attendance. His world premiere of Dammi still took place on opening night in Piazza Grande. Stellan Skarsgård, recipient of the Leopard Club Award, also expressed solidarity with the strike, cancelling his presence at the Award ceremony and the Conversation with the audience.
Additional stars that have changed their plans are Theater Camp’s Molly Gordon, Ben Platt and Noah Galvin. Cate Blanchett, producer of Shayda — which is scheduled to screen on closing night —also opted out of the fest in support of the strike.
Screenings are taking place as planned, so is the large international retrospective of Mexican popular cinema, scheduled for this year’s edition.
Locarno organizers stated that the festival sees the ongoing strike as a sign of the problems troubling the contemporary film industry. The fest supports a constructive discussion and resolution between the parties involved and respectfully accepts the decisions of its guests.
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