The Locarno Summer Academy is a project of Festival del film Locarno and Università della Svizzera italiana that aims to further increase the value of the Festival to foster the intragenerational exchange and transmission of knowledge, and thus sustain the flow of new blood into film, in Switzerland and abroad. The Locarno Summer Academy is open to thirty international participants, and is aimed at young professionals who are taking their first steps in the film world, and film students.

The Producer's Point of View

The program of the 2nd Locarno Summer Academy is focusing on the Producer's point of view in contemporary filmmaking. Over the six-days course, participants will examine and reflect on the process of creating a film: from the initial choice of story to developing a screenplay, from shooting to editing and postproduction, from setting out viable financing models to promotional and sales strategies. The program includes lectures, workshops, round tables and professional encounters.

The key scholar in the morning lectures is prof. Amedeo D'Adamo (Los Angeles, USA) who will guide the students in a regular work-review of case studies chosen from recent international cinema productions. Dr. Nevina Satta will moderate meetings with well-established filmmakers and producers taking part alongside film industry representatives of international repute. The skills and job profiles involved in the various phases of film production will be analyzed in depth, paying special attention to recent developments and to current international trends.

Among the speakers and tutors of the 2011 edition are confirmed: Christophe Bruncher, French producer; Mike Medavoy U.S. producer (winner of this year’s Raimondo Rezzonico Prize), who will also be speaking at an open session with the Festival public; Simon Perry, president Ateliers du cinéma européen ACE; Katriel Schory, executive director Israel Film Fund; Kristina Trapp, chief executive European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs EAVE.


The Locarno Critics' Academy

Starting in 2011, the Locarno Summer Academy is launching a new initiative: the Locarno Critics' Academy, which in this first year is organized in tandem with the Swiss Film Journalists' Association (ASGC). The Locarno Critics' Academy will involve 6 promising film journalists living in Switzerland, who will run a daily blog on the films in the program of the Festival del film Locarno, following an editorial line set by a member journalist of ASGC.


The Locarno Summer Academy enjoys support from the Ernst Göhner Foundation (Zug). The 2nd Locarno Summer Academy will be held August 8th–13th, 2011, as part of the 64th edition of the Festival del film Locarno. The official working languages are English and Italian.

Locarno Summer Academy: Presentation  |  Program

University Producing Lab: Presentation and program

Information: Gregory Catella, summeracademy@pardo.ch