Locarno Film Festival 2020: Cancelled Swiss Film Fest Announces “The Films After Tomorrow” Initiative

“The Films After Tomorrow” will aid films whose productions were stopped by COVID-19 pandemic

If the post-pandemic future will have film, then they will need assured funding. The Locarno Film Festival is stepping in to fill that void.

The Switzerland-based film festival, known for its indie focus, will host “The Films After Tomorrow” initiative in lieu of a physical festival this year. The initiative is a part of the festival’s broader plan “Locarno2020 – For The Future of Films”, which works on connecting audiences outside of traditional screening methods.

As per the news release on the festival’s website:

The Locarno Film Festival cannot exist without films, even in a suspended, unfinished, immobile state: these are the participants of The Films After Tomorrow, the competition that will make itself known to audiences online on August 5-15. This is the project around which Locarno2020 – For the Future of Films is being built, and this experimental, multifaceted edition will include both the old and the new.

Official Competition

“The Films After Tomorrow” will be for filmmakers whose projects were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition is open for any film no matter how far along it is in its production (besides fully completed). Qualifying film productions must also be intended for eventual theatrical distribution, as well as be at least 70 minutes long.

The Locarno2020 competition will feature a total of 20 currently-in-progress films – 10 Swiss productions and 10 international ones. The festival will then award two Golden Leopards – the festival’s top awards – to one film from each selection. Each Golden Leopard comes with a cash prize of 70,000 Swiss francs (or about $72,000 USD).

Shift to Virtual

The competition will serve more like a pitch session rather than a traditional screening program. The organization alludes to “The Films After Tomorrow” being a natural extension of their Open Doors program, which has functioned as a workshop for up-and-coming indie filmmakers for nearly two decades.

However, Locarno2020 is making sure the public still has access to the content and be able to learn about the competing projects in an online format. Additionally, the public will be able to attend virtual masterclasses, artist encounters, and a collection of past Locarno-competing films. The list of films to stream will be curated by the filmmakers whose works-in-progress will be competing this year.

“The Festival had to give up its locations, but wouldn’t do the same with its vision, and decided, alongside its partners, to be there…[f]or the audience and the film industry, from sets to theaters,” said the festival’s news release. “In other words, it decided to be there for cinema.”

Locarno2020’s “The Films After Tomorrow” will accept entries for work-in-progress films now through May 27. The festival will announce the list of 20 finalists on June 25. Locarno2020 – For The Future of Films virtual festival will take place on August 5-15, 2020. The Golden Leopard winners will be announced on August 15.

Leave your thoughts on the Locarno Film Festival’s “The Films After Tomorrow” competition and shift to virtual programming (via Variety) and this article below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. For more Film Festival news coverage, photos, videos, and information, visit our Film Festival Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Flipboard.