Only Stellan Skarsgard, Harmony Korine of Stars but New Talent Shines at Locarno; 10 Industry Takeaways from the Swiss Festival
variety.comArthouse Crunch Over the last decade, theatrical arthouse markets have imploded soufflé-like. “We used to make 5,000 admissions per title, now the target audience is 500,” Peter Bognar, at Hungary’s CinefilCo, told Variety at Locarno.
So, to close the gap and move hopefully into a little upside, having tapped subsidies and local TV pre-buys, producers are looking ever more to overseas public-sector coin, channelled via international co-producer partners.
Tapping that not by chance is the objective of three of Locarno’s biggest industry initiatives, Open Doors, Match Me! and A4Development.
Not surprisingly, all three are flourishing. Riz Ahmed, Cate Blanchett: The Importance of Stars Following on Fantasia, as the second high-profile fest after SAG-AFTRA’s strike action, Locarno took a hit in star presence, always limited at the best of times.
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