Maja Hoffmann appointed next president of Locarno Film Festival
Maja Hoffmann takes over the presidency of the Locarno Film Festival from Marco Solari, who has held the position for 23 years.
Keystone / Samuel Golay
Billionaire art collector and patron Maja Hoffmann has been elected as the next president of the Locarno Film Festival. She has been appointed to replace Marco Solari, who has held the position for 23 years.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
An extraordinary general meeting of the film festival elected Maja Hoffmann as the new president on Wednesday.
A well-known figure in the visual arts world, Hoffmann, 67, founder of the LUMA Foundation in Arles, France, will be the first woman to take on the role. Outgoing president Marco Solari will accompany her during a transition phase in the coming months.
Solari presented his successor with a white rose to symbolises transparency and courage.
As the new president, Hoffmann said she was ready to take risks and support the Locarno Film Festival in its next development phase.
Following her designation in July, critical voices became louder, particularly from Ticino, questioning how often the versatile Hoffmann, who lives in Basel, Zurich and Arles, would be in Locarno.
Hoffmann, vice president of the collection of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation in Basel, said after her election that she was a cosmopolitan and a “person of the south” and wouldn’t just be able to be in Locarno.
She is well connected in the art world and began collecting art in the 1980s. She studied film in New York and has co-directed documentaries, for example about Marina Abramovic or Peggy Guggenheim.
In 2004 she founded the LUMA Foundation, which supports artistic and interdisciplinary work in the fields of visual arts, education and the environment. The branch in Arles was added in 2013.
The extraordinary general meeting of the Locarno Film Festival also decided to reduce the size of the Board of Directors from 27 to 7 members. It also introduced two new advisory bodies: the policy advisory board, designed to provide support at cultural, economic and institutional levels, and the industry advisory board, which will bring together the various competencies of the film industry.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Prevention and tech could help save billions on Swiss healthcare costs, says Deloitte
This content was published on
By focusing on prevention and technology, it would be possible to reduce Switzerland's healthcare bill by CHF30 billion a year by 2040, according to Deloitte Switzerland.
Environment director warns of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland
This content was published on
The director of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has warned of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland in an interview with SonntagsBlick on Sunday.
Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season
This content was published on
The start of the summer holidays saw a long traffic jam in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday. Traffic jams between Erstfeld and Göschenen in canton Uri were up to 11 kilometres long early in the morning.
This content was published on
The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.
Defence Minister Pfister stresses importance of Swiss mission in Balkans
This content was published on
During a visit to the Balkans region last week, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister met Swisscoy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day
This content was published on
On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.
Swiss launch competition for memorial to Nazi victims
This content was published on
The victims of Nazi Germany are to be commemorated on the Casinoterrasse in Bern. A competition will be held to determine what the site will look like.
Iranian film takes top prize at Locarno Film Festival
This content was published on
Mantagheye bohrani (Critical Zone) by Iranian filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh won the Pardo d’oro (Golden Leopard) at the 76th Locarno Film Festival.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.