Locarno funds six African films through Open Doors Africa
Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors Africa program funds six films by emerging African directors, aiming to diversify global cinema with unconventional stories. The initiative, backed by Swiss sponsors, provides financing and mentorship to challenge industry norms and elevate underrepresented African voices.
The Locarno Film Festival just unveiled its Open Doors Africa projects, backing six films by emerging African directors in a move to reshape global cinema. The Swiss festival’s co-production wing and talent accelerator picked projects that range from a surrealist love story to a documentary on motherhood and colonialism, all helmed by filmmakers from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, and South Africa. This year’s slate leans into raw, unconventional storytelling—think a keyboard prodigy navigating identity or a historical drama told through a fractured lens.
Why this matters: Locarno is betting big on African voices at a time when global platforms are still playing catch-up. The festival’s Open Doors program, launched in 2023, was designed to bridge the funding gap for filmmakers south of the Sahara. Last year’s projects went on to screen at Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, proving that fresh African perspectives can travel far beyond local circuits. By focusing on underrepresented genres and themes—like Afro-futurism meets colonial trauma—Locarno isn’t just diversifying its lineup; it’s challenging the industry’s idea of what African cinema can look like.
The shift didn’t happen overnight. Locarno’s artistic director, Giona Nazzaro, pushed to decentralize the festival’s gaze after years of criticism that European festivals prioritized familiar names over regional talent. Open Doors Africa was born from that pressure, backed by the Swiss government and private sponsors willing to fund projects others deemed too risky. The selected films now get financing, mentorship, and a direct line to buyers at Locarno’s market, where deals often get struck during late-night screenings on the Piazza Grande.
What’s next: Six teams will pitch to producers and streamers next month in a closed-door forum at Locarno’s offshoot event, Industry Academy Africa. The goal isn’t just to greenlight these films but to create a template for how festivals can nurture talent outside the usual power centers. If even one of these projects lands a major distribution deal, it could force Netflix, Amazon, or Apple to rethink how they scout African stories. And that’s the real win—not just more African films on screens, but more African filmmakers calling the shots.
