Eight projects and eight producers from South Asia have been selected and will be presented to potential European and international partners during Open Doors.
Carlo Chatrian, the Festival's Artistic Director, comments: "This initial selection of projects from South Asia shows the productivity and energy of a region with major potential. This is the first stage in a work of exploration and support that will continue over three years."
Over three years, Open Doors will focus on eight countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
For the fourteenth edition, to be held 4 – 9 August, 2016, eight projects are selected for the Open Doors Hub :
- Cinema, City and Cats by Ishtiaque Zico, Bangladesh
- Craving (Ta Ku Tha Lo Chin Thee) by Maung Okkar, Myanmar
- Day After Tomorrow by Kamar Ahmad Simon, Bangladesh
- House of My Fathers by Suba Sivakumaran, Sri Lanka
- Season of Dragonflies (Jhyalincha) by Abinash Bikram Shah, Nepal
- The Cineaste by Aboozar Amini, Afghanistan
- The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen, Bhutan
- Then They Would be Gone (Mela Chaar Dinan Da) by Maheen Zia, Pakistan
A recent innovation to the project is the Open Doors Lab: "The Lab is the result of a 13-year experience alongside professionals from the South and the East, proposing a training for producers combined with personalized support before and after the Festival." Sophie Bourdon, Head of Open Doors.
The eight producers and directors-producers who will participate in the Open Doors Lab:
- Aadnan Imtiaz Ahmed, Kino-Eye Films, Bangladesh
- Abu Shahed Emon, Batayan Productions, Bangladesh
- Rubaiyat Hossain, Khona Talkies, Bangladesh
- Jigme Lhendhup, Evolving Artists, Bhutan
- We Ra Aung, Green Age Film Production, Myanmar
- Thu Thu Shein, Third Floor Production, Myanmar
- Wang Shin Hong, Myanmar Montage Productions, Myanmar
- Min Bahadur Bham, Shooney Films, Nepal
Supported from its inception by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Open Doors initiative aims to support and highlight filmmakers and films from countries in the South and the East where independent cinema is vulnerable.
As part of the Open Doors Hub the Open Doors Jury will award a prize worth 50,000 CHF, funded by the Swiss production support fund Visions Sud Est (also supported by the SDC) and the City of Bellinzona; the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée), will offer a grant worth 8,000 Euros and ARTE will offer a prize worth 6,000 Euros.
Open Doors is organized in close collaboration with the Locarno Festival's Industry Office and enjoys support from numerous European and Asian organizations such as ACE (Ateliers du Cinéma Européen), EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs), Producers Network Marché du Film (Cannes Festival), TorinoFilmLab, Festival Scope, Clinik.Kathmandu, MEMORY! International Film Heritage Festival, Yangon Film School and Bhutan Film Trust. The Open Doors initiative also benefits from the invaluable contribution of Paolo Bertolin, a festival programmer and specialist in film from the Asia-Pacific region.
The section also includes the Open Doors Screenings, which will present to the Locarno audeince a selection of shorts and features that are representative of the national cinemas participating in the Open Doors Lab, to be announced at the press conference on July 13, alongside the complete line-up for the Festival.
The 69° edition of the Festival del film Locarno will take place 3 – 13 August, 2016.
