Locarno International Film Festival will screen 9 films supported by the EU MEDIA programme.
European Commissioner for Education and Culture, Androula Vassiliou commented. “The MEDIA programme is once again in the spotlight at Locarno, which has always been a fantastic platform for European films…MEDIA stands for a strong European film industry and for cultural diversity. I am delighted that MEDIA will continue to support our most talented film-makers as part of the new Creative Europe programme from next year.”
Five of the films supported by the MEDIA programme are in competition and four will be shown in the 8 000 capacity Piazza Grande, one of the world's largest open-air screens. Vassiliou, will attend the festival this weekend. Highlights at this year's festival will include appearances by Christopher Lee, Faye Dunaway, Anna Karina, Werner Herzog, Sergio Castellitto, Otar Iosseliani and Jacqueline Bisset, who will receive a lifetime achievement award.
Locarno festival will also host the latest in a series of “PUENTES” workshops, which bring together producers from Europe and Latin America. According to the Commission, the PUENTES scheme is supported by MEDIA Mundus, the international version of the MEDIA programme. Projects developed after previous PUENTES workshops at festivals include Gloria, a Chilean-Spanish drama by Sebastian Lelio, which won the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Paulina García) at 2013 Berlin Film Festival.
2014 marks the start of a new era for the MEDIA programme which is part of the Creative Europe programme. The new programme will continue to provide grants to support film development, training and distribution, as well as launching a new loan guarantee fund aimed at making it easier for the cultural and creative sectors to access loans.
The Commission stressed that Creative Europe is expected to have an overall budget of around €1.3 billion in 2014-2020, which is an increase of nearly 9 per cent compared with the existing MEDIA and Culture programmes. The new programme is subject to final approval from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU this autumn.