‘We Are Very Ripe for an Overhaul, a Revolution, a Reset,’ Says Former IFC Films Exec Arianna Bocco on Indie Cinema at Locarno’s Think Tank: Five Takeaways

variety.com:

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “What’s the Deal With Independent Cinema?” was the theme of the Locarno Film Festival’s StepIn think tank where a select group of European and international industry players exchanged views and took part in working sessions to discuss the state of the indie film industry.

The unique event, now at it 11th edition, kicked off Thursday with an “out-of-the-box” introduction by feisty U.S. producer Ted Hope, known for his indie ethos even when he ran the film unit at Amazon Studios. “The indie film sector is f**** but it actually has a huge chance to build something and I actually think that is quite doable and the chances of building something better are quite high,” said Hope.

Hope’s provocative pep talk was followed by a more subdued conversation among the event’s keynote speakers who were former IFC Films president Arianna Bocco, Berlinale managing director Mariette Rissenbeek, and the British Film Institute’s Head of Research and Insight Rishi Coupland.

The themes of this year’s four StepIN roundtables were: the theatrical battlefield between independents, majors and streamers; how to protect the “biodiversity of content and voices” in the current production ecosystem; the dynamics of film festivals torn between commercial constraints and cultural considerations; and the state of gender equality and diversity representation five years after France’s Collectif 50/50 took to Cannes to protest the lack of female representation and diversity across the film industry. Here are five takeaways: U.S.