Locarno Open Doors announces winners 2024

Open Doors, Locarno Pro’s co-production and talent development program for artists from underrepresented communities around the world, has announced its 2024 winners.

Eight projects in development were selected for its coproduction platform, the Projects Hub, and were eligible for the three main cash prizes. Along with nine creative producers who participated in the program’s talent incubator, the Producers Lab, and the directors of films of the Open Doors Screenings, who form the Directors Club, they make up the full selection of this year’s program.

The initiative’s biggest award for the Projects Hub, the Open Doors Grant with a total value of CHF 50,000 sponsored by visions sud est and the City of Bellinzona, was divided among four projects: Salvación by Ernesto Bautista (CHF 20,000), El único tiempo by Paz Encina (CHF 20,000), which also won the ARTEKino International Award (€ 6,000), La levedad de ella by Rosa María Rodriguez (CHF 5,000), and Huaco retrato by Fernando Luis Mendoza Salazar (CHF 5,000). Ovnis en el Trópico by Rob Mendoza scooped the CNC Development Grant endowed with € 8,000. Additionally, several of Open Doors’ partners provided awards to participants across the three program strands.

The Projects Hub jury consisted of the Head of Programming at Films from the South Lasse Skagen, President of the ARTEKino Foundation and Delegate Managing Director ARTE France Cinéma Rémi Burah, Project Manager for Co-Production and International Cooperation at CNC Sophie Loyrette, Co-Director of trigon-film Meret Ruggle and Project Manager of visions sud est Madeline Robert.

The Award Ceremony on Tuesday, 13 August 2024, marked the end of a three-year focus on Latin American and the Caribbean. While speaking on Locarno’s Piazza Grande the night before, Patricia Danzi, Director General of Open Doors’ main partner, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), announced the program will focus on the African continent for the next four editions.

Danzi said: “The African continent is a focus region for international cooperation of SDC and for the next four years we will continue to develop synergies between the SDC Programmes and Locarno Open Doors. Arts and culture are engines for social change and creativity and contribute to social cohesion and peace. Hence, they are indispensable for societal progress.”

Zsuzsi Bánkuti, Head of Open Doors, adds: “After three successful years of focusing on Latin American and the Caribbean, we are excited to announce that our attention will now shift to the African continent for the next four years. This transition is not just about changing our focus, but about expanding our work. We plan to foster strong collaborations between Latin American, the Caribbean and the African continent, ensuring that the connections of the previous years continue while forming new ones. Building on this year’s focus on collaborative efforts, our goal is to create a connected and thriving network that benefits all regions.”

More details on the new focus region will be announced by Open Doors this autumn.

During the Festival’s Independent Juries Award Ceremony on August 17, the Junior Jury will present a special award worth CHF 2,000 for the Short Film in the Open Doors Screenings that best illustrates the concept “Environment is quality of life”.

The Open Doors Screenings, a curated, non-competitive section of the Locarno Film Festival showcasing feature and short films from the focus region of Open Doors, will continue until Saturday 17 August.

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Winners Open Doors 2024 

Open Doors Grant 

A total of CHF 50,000 sponsored by visions sud est (with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), the City of Bellinzona and the Open Doors initiative.

CHF 20,000 to Salvación by Ernesto Bautista, produced by Melissa Guevara (Burn and Die Films), El Salvador / Mexico

Jury statement: “For a proposal that portrays often overlooked post-war processes, with a very strong artistic approach, a non-chronological storytelling and with a poetic and intimate vision that renews the idea of genre. A project about a situation from the past of one of the small countries of Latin America that we never hear from that resonates today all around the world.”

CHF 20,000 to El único tiempo by Paz Encina, produced by Gabriela Sabaté (Sabaté Films) and Julio Chavezmontes (Piano), Paraguay / Mexico / Germany

Jury statement: “For a very convincing project and a filmmaker with a clear voice and dedication we would like to give an award to a film that delicately explores themes of exile and the longing for the return of the disappeared.”

CHF 5,000 to La levedad de ella by Rosa María Rodriguez, produced by Armando Capó Ramos (GatoRosafilms), Martha Orozco (Martfilms) and Cristina Gallego (Ciudad Lunar), Cuba / Mexico / Colombia

Jury statement: “For a sensitive, intimate approach to the question of freedom of choice in the face of life and death, from a woman’s point of view, in a raw, realistic film.”

CHF 5,000 to Huaco retrato by Fernando Luis Mendoza Salazar, produced by Silvia Eisleen Arellano Rojas (Cybermuchik Cine), Peru

Jury statement: “This film particularly convinced the Jury for its innovative blend of cultural heritage, history and modern video games, set in a region often overlooked within the country.”

CNC Development Grant 

€ 8,000 for development provided by CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée

Ovnis en el Trópico by Rob Mendoza, produced by Isabel Carrasco (Cinema Verano), Ecuador

ARTEKino International Award 

€ 6,000 for development provided by ARTEKino

El único tiempo by Paz Encina, produced by Gabriela Sabaté (Sabaté Films) and Julio Chavezmontes (Piano), Paraguay / Mexico / Germany

Partner Awards  

Sørfond Award 

Participation in the project to the Sørfond pitching event in November including travel and accommodation.

El único tiempo by Paz Encina, produced by Gabriela Sabaté (Sabaté Films) and Julio Chavezmontes (Piano), Paraguay / Mexico / Germany

Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival Residency Award 

A residency in Tabakalera and taking part in the industry activities of the San Sebastian Film Festival, given in collaboration with the International Culture Center Tabakalera and San Sebastian Film Festival.

Luis Flores Alvarenga (Thau Honduras), participant Producers Lab, Honduras

Open Doors – BR Lab Award 

Participation at the project development workshop BR Lab in São Paulo in October 2024 with travel and accommodation covered, provided by BR Lab.

Salvación by Ernesto Bautista, produced by Melissa Guevara (Burn and Die Films), El Salvador / Mexico

Open Doors – Moulin d’Andé-CECI Award 

Writing residency for the director of a first or second feature film project in development, with accommodation covered and a contribution to travel costs, provided by the Moulin d’Andé-CECI and the Locarno Film Festival.

Rob Mendoza, director Ovnis en el Trópico, Ecuador

Rotterdam Lab Award  

Provided by the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).  One of the Producers Lab participants is offered the opportunity to take part in the next Rotterdam Lab, including accommodation covered by the International Film Festival Rotterdam along with a contribution to the travel’s costs by the Locarno Film Festival.

Yamila Marrero (CRISÁLIDA Producciones), participant Producers Lab, Cuba

Open Doors – World Cinema Fund Audience Strategy Award   

The award provided by World Cinema Fund offers a specific program tailored and geared to closely follow the development of an audience engagement strategy.

Huaco retrato by Fernando Luis Mendoza Salazar, produced by Silvia Eisleen Arellano Rojas (Cybermuchik Cine), Peru

Open Doors – OIF – ACP – EU Award 

This collaboration provides a project or participant from an ACP country of the focus region with a consultancy for up to 18 months, script/treatment analysis, story editing and polishing of the film dossier based on the specific needs of the awarded project. Provided by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

Un funeral para Lola by Iván de Lara, produced by José María Pimentel (Mostly Productions), Dominican Republic