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Berset speaks at Locarno Film Festival as Hollywood strikes

President Alain Berset at the Locarno Film Festival. 
President Alain Berset at the Locarno Film Festival. © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott


Swiss President Alain Berset attended Thursday the Locarno Film Festival, which is being held while actors in Hollywood strike. 

“No other cultural field has undergone such changes over the last ten years as the film industry,” said the president in remarks quoted by Keystone-SDA news agency. “We will have to remain very active.”

The actors’ strike, which continues in Hollywood, has not gone unnoticed in Bern and Locarno, with many stars pulling out of the event, the latest of which was that of Cate Blanchett.

Berset spoke of an important strike that highlights the precarious working conditions of cultural actors. Conditions which, as we have seen with the pandemic, are precarious even in our latitudes, he noted.

Carine Bachmann, Director of the Federal Office of Culture (FOC), pointed out that the film industry serves as a model for other cultural sectors, thanks to pre-established contracts. Ms. Bachmann also stressed the “need for independent, diversified and high-quality cinema”.


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