Locarno Takeaways: A Charming Olivia Wilde, Navigating an Industry Crunch and One Reason Why There Should Be More Women Filmmakers

Unspooling over Aug. 5-15, this year’s Locarno Film Festival broke records for industry attendance and its heat, Switzerland enduring its hottest summer since records began in 1864. Led by an ebullient Olivia Wilde, charged by the breakout success of “The Invite,” Locarno Pro delivered a telling take on the world’s arthouse crunch with the sector courting venture capital to fill the breach of contracting finance from traditional sources. These and other industry takeaways fom this year’s Locarno Film Festival. Stars Popular on Variety Olivia Wilde charmed with a candid conversation at Locarno and her unveiling to a Piazza Grande audience “The Invite,” which could — or should — be in the upcoming Oscar race. Zoe Saldaña, who also received a tribute, explained why she was bothered by political questions. Another Locarno honoree, James Gray, presenting “Paper Tiger,” was in fine fettle delivering a stomping interview with Variety, calling AI “worthless” and arguing “young people won’t stand for it.” Monica Bellucci declared she’d never done anything like her role in “Ketticè”: “On set in my pyjamas with a knife in my hand and slippers on my feet.” Europe’s biggest mid-summer film event, “Locarno offers prestige, elegance and plenty of press attention at what is a much less crowded selection than most festivals in the awards season corridor,” Stuart Ford, at AGC Intl., told Variety last year when he brought “Kiss of the Spider Woman” to Locarno. That reason still stands as Locarno’s star presence builds ever more. Buzz Titles Variety called “Objet a,” an Oscilloscope U.S. pick-up from Ann Oren (“Piaff”), “a wickedly kinky curiosity.” “Hearing” (“gorgeous, secretive”), Swedish-Danish Maria Back’s “Brave New Love” (an “emotionally intelligent, gently wry character drama”) and Felix Randau’s “I Is Another” (“a handsomely upholstered psychological thriller”) also came in for Variety praise. As did German Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming,” “stark surprising.” Elsewhere, Argentinean Alessandra Sanguinetti’s “The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer” – dreamy, grounded,” said Variety — had plenty of fans. Locarno’s Industry Value “Who is full of hope?” moderator A.C. Coppens, The Catalysts founder, asked a packed audience at Locarno’s Step-In think tank’s opening panel after Stephen Follows damning analysis of algorithm-driven decision-making in a Step-In introduction. Only two hands went up from audience members. Locarno Pro itself drives to identify opportunities during good times and industry malaise. “When we did Step-In before the pandemic, we asked what the film industry would look like in five years time. Now that’s impossible. Step-In is anticipating one-to-two years max because things are moving so fast,” says Locarno Pro director Markus Duffner. That said, Locarno in 2026, supplied multiple suggestions for ways forward for the international independent sector. Co-Production: The Industry’s Get Out of Jail Card One, without doubt, is co-production. “Our aim is to build projects around international collaboration from their earliest stages,” Portuguese producer Ana Sofia Nunes told Variety at Match Me! Locarno’s large networking event. Most producers there would agree. Indeed, international co-production was highlighted by 12 of 20 Match Me! producers who talked to Variety about their business model, followed by genre production (three) and non-theatrical distribution (two). Match Me! can furthers their aims, notes Duffner, citing Chile’s Equeco and Italy’s Dispàrte, behind 2026 Locarno Piazza Grande premiere “The Chilean,” who met at Match Me! Venture Capital Investors There’s a new kid in town: venture capital investment, drawn to the Swiss Festival by a second Locarno Investment Community held over Aug. 6-9. Investors are discovering the value of the movie business. Why? “Because we need them,” answers Alexandra Lebret, ex MD of the European Producers Club, now co-heading investor Together Fund, co-financed by the E.U.’s MediaInvest fund. Europe’s film industry now faces a triple-whammy: Shrinking broadcaster, international distributor and now state aid, and selective schemes — think France’s Cinémas du Monde are “very, very competitive,” said Lebret. “Producers will have to produce with less. There is more space for private investors. The whole system needs to adapt to first a new reality and secondly, to new players that are coming and will change the rules,” Lebret forecast. “Private investment is one answer to diminishing or evolving public funding for art films,” says Duffner. Genre Build Of projects shopped at Match Me!, “The Girl Who Bled Women,” from Brazil’s Movioca and turning on a girl’s determination not to lose her virginity in an arranged marriage, was cast as a survival thriller. “Half of the world, from France’s Belladonna Films, is a “contemporary genre film with elements of comedy,” said producer Gabriel Jumel. “The Educator,” produced by Montenegro’s Adriatic Western, weighs in as a “fresh take on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Smith,” producer Ivan Marinóvic told Variety. In all, 12 of the top projects presented by 35 producers were genre films or had distinct genre elements. “Most genre, not only elevated genre but more commercial genre, makes some political statement, and Locarno, with Giona [A. Nazzaro’s] editorial line as artistic director, has embraced more and more these kind of films and that can be seen in Locarno Pro lineups,” says Duffner. The Need for More Films by Women The industry could also do with more films by women. “I don’t know if you’ve come across those like, little plaques that you sometimes see in offices that say: ‘You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps.’ The film version is: ‘You don’t have to be a white, cisgendered, not-disabled, middle class urban man to work here, but it helps,’” Doris Ruth Eikhof, at the University of Glasgow and Design Otherwise said. She went on to cite German film data that suggested that even from just a business point of view, that is short-sighted: Films produced by men need €41 ($48) to sell one cinema ticket, women just €13 ($15). When they are selected, films by women are typically more successful, have a longer festival run and win more awards. Arthouse’s Generational Makeover At the turn of the century, arthouse theaters in Europe were frequented by ageing baby boomers. Now, ”we see a huge young audience coming to our cinema,” Joyce Palmers, at Antwerp’s De Cinema repertory theater, said at Step-In’s opening panel. That may have two knock-ons. One most certainly: De Cinema’s young audience “loves to see classics.” A central panel at Locarno’s Heritage Monday identified classic film exhibition as one, however niche, future for cinema. Also, arthouse movies and directors breaking out around the world most often share the interest of a younger audience, making films of contemporary relevance, political and social point and authenticity. Notably, upscale European films may be skewing younger. Seven of the 11 projects at Alliance 4 Development have young protagonists or co-leads. Moving Beyond Nuclear Families Increasingly, titles are certainly capturing a younger generation Zeitgeist. Multiple titles also chart for Millennials and the Gen Z the evolution of bedrock relations beyond those of nuclear families. Ghanaian Artei Armar’s “Our Time Will Come” trails two orphans who move to Accra to find chosen family. ‘The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer” records cousins Guille and Belinda over 25 years as they grow up, fall in love, raise children and slowly drift apart. “Kinship, whether by blood or affinity, is redefined for a modern world,” writes Variety, which could be said of two notable titles in Locarno’s Spanish Film Previews which again chart far more fluid bedrock relations: Diego Llorente’s “How the Lights Get In” and Paloma Zapata’s “Juliette & Camille.” Family Arthouse Or sales agents and distributors are turning to family arthouse. Kids and family pics are driving an ever larger part Locarno’s business dealings. In one move, Locarno Kids title “Mu-ki-ra,” a flamboyant animated feature and political allegory from Colombian creative powerhouse Estefanía Piñeres Duque and “Decorado” producer Chelo Loureiro, was brought to market by Latido Films. And in another, Patra Spanou Films closed world sales rights to Rodrigo Plá’s “Los Nuevos” after its world premiere at Locarno. “An increasing number of international distributors are handling family arthouse for broader audiences, and come to Locarno to focus on Locarno Kids, which now has a lot of international and world premieres too,” Duffner comments. The Business Locarno sparked a bevy of U.S. pickups and a slew of sales agent deals on movies in main international competition and Piazza Grande titles. 20 deals at Locarno 2026 announced by Variety: *Ahead of Locarno World Premiere, Oscilloscope Laboratories acquires Ann Oren’s “Objet a,” which went on to spark rave reviews at the Swiss festival. *Cinetic Media swooped on North America sales rights to “Manhunt,” a Locarno Main Competition contender. Aspect Ratio has taken international sales rights. *”Bloody Tennis” sold to Shudder for the U.S. in a CAA deal, with the expose of elite sport extremes closing major territories — Australia (Umbrella Entertainment), Italy (Plaion Pictures), Japan (Extreme Film) and Scandinavia (Njutafilms) — in the run-up to Locarno. The Playmaker Munich and Augenschein Sales handled international deals. *Hong Sangsoo’s “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes” landed at Cinema Guild ahead of its Locarno Premiere *Heretic pounced on Denis Còté’s awaited “Nobody’s Violence,” in a mid-July deal. According to many critics it proved worth the waiting with Côté, “proving once again to be an inimitable observer of the human condition,” said iCs. *Fandango Sales picked up explosive Locarno Premiere “The Chilean,” a ‘70s-set militant left thriller from top Chilean scribe-helmer Sergio Castro-San Martín, creator of “La Jauría.” *”Small Talk,” a nuanced take on Switzerland’s last finishing school, was boarded by France’s Urban Sales. *And “La Koreana,” a banner new talent title from Spain, was brought to market at Locarno by producers Lazona Zinema and Sirimiri, headed by “20,000 Species of Bees” director Estibaliz Urresola *In other deals unveiled just after the Locarno lineup announcement, Brazilian erotic thriller “The Riverbank” was boarded by Premium Films/MPM Premium… *While Bendita Film Sales boarded Locarno-bound “Donkey Princess,” From “The Wolf House” directors León & Cociña; *In other trading, Low Light Films took Basil Da Cunha’s “O Jacaré,” a celebration of Lisbon’s Vibrant Reboleira district. *And Isabelle Stever’s Locarno main competition title, “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming,” produced by Tom Tykwer, has been picked up for world sales by France’s Outplay Films *Heretic also secured sales rights on Lê Bảo’s “Hearing,” praised by Variety as a “sensuous, intuitive mood piece.” *Dario Albertini’s “Armony,” bowing at Locarno’s Piazza Grande, secured Swiss distribution with Xenix. *Italy-Based Lights On snapped up Colombia’s “In All My Journeys I Am Returning.” *”The Days Off,” Lucila Mariani’s dreamlike Argentine debut, found a sales agent at Inwave Films.