Movies

Locarno Film Festival Appoints Giona Nazzaro as Artistic Director

Italian film critic Giona A. Nazzaro, former head of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, has been appointed the new artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival.

His appointment comes just over a month after Lili Hinstin stepped down from the role in a shock departure.

A longtime Locarno fest collaborator, Nazzaro has plenty of programming experience, having served since 2005 at the helm of the independently run Venice section and on selection committees of the Rome, Turin, Visions du reel in Nyon, and the Festival dei Popoli in Florence. He is an author of book and essays on Hong Kong cinema, postmodern action films, and monographs on Abel Ferrara, Spike Lee and Gus Van Sant.

Nazzaro who was born and raised in Switzerland, will take up his post officially with effect from January 1, but will start working immediately alongside Nadia Dresti, interim head of artistic direction until the end of December 2020. Nadia Dresti will continue as coordinator in charge of Locarno Pro in the early months of 2021, pending further announcements, Locarno President Marco Solari said.

Solari praised Nazzaro as “an ideal match for the artistic profile” of the festival, noting that he was “already perfectly familiar with Locarno,” and “equipped with the planning skills” for the fest’s “indispensable future innovations in the digital environment,” and also “a person who has an international mindset but also strong ties to Ticino and Switzerland.”

The 74th edition of Locarno, which is Europe’s pre-eminent event dedicated to indie cinema, will run August 4-14.

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