The 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, which will take place from August 2 to 12, announced on Thursday that it would in turn suffer the effects of the strike by Hollywood actors and screenwriters. “Certain personalities expected to receive a prize or defend a film will ultimately not come to the Festival,” the organizers said in a press release. “Interpreting the current strike as revealing the evils that afflict the contemporary film industry, the Locarno Film Festival calls for a constructive dialogue between the parties concerned and respects the decision of the personalities mentioned”, they added. Thus, the British actor Riz Ahmed will not attend the award ceremony during the opening night of the festival. However, the world premiere screening of the short film Dammi, by Frenchman Yann Demange, in which he plays alongside Isabelle Adjani, will take place as planned.
In addition, “Swedish performer Stellan Skarsgård, who accepted the Leopard Club Award 2023 on June 16, has decided to give up his prize in solidarity with the strike movement”. He will however come to Locarno to present What Remains, by Ran Huang, but the other events which planned his participation – the award ceremony and his conversation with the public – have been cancelled. If the screening of Theater Camp (2023) is confirmed and will be presented by the co-director of the film, Nick Lieberman, the co-director and actress Molly Gordon and the actors Ben Platt and Noah Gavin will not be present in Locarno.
In the United States, the actors have joined since July 14 the screenwriters already on strike, after the failure of negotiations with the studios on their salaries and guarantees against the artificial intelligence which, according to them, threatens their future. This double social movement has been unheard of for more than 60 years in Hollywood. The Locarno festival is not the only one to suffer the effects. The Venice Film Festival, which marks its 80th edition this year, had to announce the replacement of its opening film with Comandante by Italian director Edoardo De Angelis.
