Locarno Film Festival unveils historic exhibition and Alliance 4 Development showcase

The Locarno Film Festival opened a new exhibition called “Piazza nostra” at the Museo Casorella. Curated by historians Cyril Cordoba and Joséphine Métraux, the show presents over a hundred hours of interviews with former collaborators, residents, and long‑time spectators, highlighting the hidden voices that have shaped the festival’s eight‑decade history. Visitors can explore the original 1971 projection cabin – a structure built from two plastic‑pool shells and later updated in 1990 – and follow a walking route through the city that links historic sites such as the Grand Hotel and the former festival marketplace.

In parallel, the festival’s Alliance 4 Development program presented a slate of experimental projects. Swiss filmmaker Tamer Ruggli debuted “Cuore Matto,” a coming‑of‑age musical set in 1960s Ticino. German director Henning Beckhoff showed “Dyspnoe,” a body‑transformation drama about a marine biologist’s emotional collapse. Artist‑filmmaker Claudia Rorarius introduced “Humanoid,” in which a grieving artist creates an android version of her late partner. The showcase underscored Locarno’s role as a laboratory for avant‑garde cinema and emerging talent.