Locarno is that charming anomaly that’s been running for 79 years: a film festival that stubbornly refuses to play diva—in a country that stubbornly refuses to play cultural superpower. And weirdly enough, it works. Actually, better than works: it thrives. While other festivals sweat it out hauling starlets up staircases in stilettos under a 40° sun, Locarno quietly does its thing: show films, gather people, spark encounters. Revolutionary, right?

The thing about Locarno is that it cracked a very simple code—one that seems impossibly complex for many: you can be serious without taking yourself too seriously. The films here are sharp, demanding, sometimes flat-out bizarre. This year, the Golden Leopard went to a Japanese film about two lonely souls meeting twice—not exactly summer blockbuster material. And yet the vibe is pure village fair: ministers bump into Sunday cinephiles over lukewarm beer. No velvet ropes, no VIP hierarchies, no endless protocol. Just people watching films together in a square, as if that were the most normal thing in the world. Which, frankly, it should be.

This pragmatic take on cinema—screen, watch, talk, repeat—might just be the real modernity. While the entertainment industry keeps shoving pre-chewed dreams and lycra-clad saviors down our throats, Locarno rewards films about solitude, melancholic models wandering through morgues, or documentaries shot under bombs in Lebanon. Comfort films that heal wounds rather than blow everything up. A reminder that cinema is first and foremost the art of telling stories together. No red carpet, no vintage champagne required. Just a square, a giant screen, and 8,000 people sitting on the ground: the magic formula that’s worked for nearly eight decades.

The delicious paradox of Locarno is that by refusing spectacle, it became spectacular. By snubbing the star system, it lured in the stars. By sticking to its DNA as a demanding yet popular festival, it proves you can do culture without “doing cultural.” In short, Locarno pulls off what Switzerland does best: solid, lasting stuff, no frills, with that quiet elegance of people who have nothing to prove.

Have a good week!

M. Hantale 🧀

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