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The Locarno Film Festival has re-upped Italian film critic Giona A. Nazzaro as its artistic director for the next three years.
Nazzaro, a former head of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, has been leading the prominent Swiss event dedicated to indie cinema since 2021, under a five-year mandate that expires this year.
During his watch, Nazzaro — who was born and raised in Switzerland — has bolstered Locarno’s role as a driver for arthouse titles, helping them reach the widest audiences possible. One case in point, cited by Nazzaro in a statement, is the global success of last year’s Golden Leopard winner “Toxic,” an examination of young female friendship that marked the debut feature of Lithuanian director Saulė Bliuvaitė. After Locarno, the film went on to play at 70 festivals.
“I would like to thank President Maja Hoffmann and the entire board of directors of the Locarno Film Festival for the trust and esteem placed in me and in the team that I have the privilege of leading,” Nazzaro said in a statement. “To pursue together the work of these first five years, in a moment full of unheard-of transformations in the audiovisual sector and film industry — at a complex historical moment — is an exciting challenge that will inspire us confidently towards our 80th anniversary.”
A longtime Locarno fest collaborator prior to becoming its chief in 2021, Nazzaro has also served on selection committees for the Rome, Turin and Visions du Reel festivals, as well as the Festival dei Popoli in Florence. He has authored several books and essays, including on Hong Kong cinema, postmodern action films and monographs on Abel Ferrara, Spike Lee and Gus Van Sant.
The upcoming 78th edition of Locarno will run Aug. 6-16.
