Hollywood strikes to affect Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland

Scriptwriters and actors in the United States are striking for better pay, contracts and fair division of the profits from movies and re-runs of films and shows. Invision

Some guests of honour of the 76^th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in southern Switzerland will not be attending the event in solidarity with the film industry strikes in Hollywood. However, the organisers assured that the screenings will go ahead as planned.

Scriptwriters, actors and directors have been manning picket lines to demand better contracts in Hollywood, but the effects of the strikes have reached the Alpine nation too. “Some of the personalities expected to receive awards or present films will not be attending the Festival,” said the organisers in a statementExternal link on Thursday.

The strikers 

British actor Riz Ahmed, mostly known for his roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The night of, will not attend the festival. Ahmed was set to receive the Davide Campari Excellence Award, but his world premiere of the short film Dammi by French director Yann Mounir Demange will still take place on opening night, with an estimated audience of some 8,000 people.

Another film where Ahmed stars, Mughal Mowgli by Bassam Tariq will also be screened in the Histoire(s) du cinéma section.

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Similarly, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, who accepted the Leopard Club Award 2023 on June 16, has decided to forfeit his prize in solidarity with the strike movement. Skarsgård also cancelled other events he was due to take part in, like the award ceremony and his talk to the audience. However, he will still attend the film festival to present Ran Huang’s What Remains in the Fuori Corso section.  

Film director Molly Gordon and actors Ben Platt and Noah Galvin will not be attending the festival, but the screening of their Theater Camp will continue as planned in Piazza Grande with co-director Nick Lieberman.  

“The Locarno Film Festival sees the ongoing strike as a sign of the problems troubling the contemporary film industry. We support a constructive discussion and resolution between the parties involved and respectfully accept the decisions of our guests,” said the organisers.

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The Hollywood strikes 

In the United States, the actors of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union have joined the scriptwriters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) union in a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which represents some major film studios, including Disney, Netflix and Amazon.

This is the biggest strike involving actors and directors in 60 years and strikers are demanding better pay, contracts and fair division of the profits from movies and re-runs of films and shows.

Since actors who are members of the SAG-AFTRA are obliged to boycott film festivals, the event in Locarno is not the only one to be affected. The Venice Film Festival, marking its 80th edition this year, announced the replacement of its opening film with Comandante by Italian director Edoardo De Angelis.