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Swiss director Simon Jaquemet – fresh off the world premiere of “Electric Child” at Locarno – is considering an adaptation of “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by U.S. science fiction writer Ted Chiang. His “Story of Your Life” already inspired Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival.”

“It’s very clever and complex,” Jaquemet said about the novella, published in 2010, which could serve as an inspiration for his future work. He is also thinking about a move into series, one that would take place after events shown in “Electric Child,” albeit still within the same universe.

“The story could take place after some catastrophic AI event. With series, you have more time – you can make it more complex. Some shows are even more daring than films [these days],” he stated.

In the meantime, Jaquemet is bound to provoke heated discussions with his new film, “Electric Child.” Echoing many AI-related conversations taking place at the festival, he...

Locarno, Switzerland — Taken multiple ways, 2024’s Locarno industry days proved hot.

Attendance at Locarno Pro, the festival’s industry arm, hit over 1,743 on-site participants and 141 online accreditations, an all-time historical record of 1,884 delegates, 23% up on last year’s 1,530 total.

Business witnessed a mini feeding frenzy from sales agents as 13 of the 28 titles without an announced sales agent at the July 10 Locarno lineup announcement were picked up for international sales by festival start. Variety alone unveiled 16 sales deals, also an all-time high.

As temperatures hit a highly humid 36ºC, the big industry question at this year’s Locarno was why business – in terms at least of sales pack-ups – seemed so bullish. A few potential answers to that and other industry takes on this year’s Locarno Festival, Europe’s biggest mid-summer event.

Arthouse Crosses Over…

Maybe what makes an art film has changed. Boosted by new government funding, a new generation...

The Locarno Film Festival, taking place in the picturesque town in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, always shines a light on arthouse voices, whether new or established. And it showcases Swiss films worth audiences’ attention.

That will be the case again during Locarno77, taking place Aug. 7-17, soon after Switzerland also took center stage at the 2024 Cannes Film Market where the Alpine nation was the country of honor.

Among the Swiss fare featured at Locarno this year are such Cannes hits as Laetitia Dosch’s Dog on Trial, and Swiss animator Claude Barras’ Savages, which are screening in the Piazza Grande lineup along with the world premiere of Swiss director Simon Jaquemet’s Electric Child, the international premiere of U.S.-Swiss filmmaker Freddy Macdonald’s Sew Torn and the Swiss premiere of Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker Klaudia Reynicke’s Reinas.

Meanwhile, Locarno’s international competition includes the Swiss entry Der Spatz im Kamin...

Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is a hot-button topic these days — in Hollywood and beyond. It may not come as a surprise then that the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday, will feature AI- and digital technology-themed movies in various parts of its lineup.

Even in unveiling the program for Locarno77 last month, Giona A. Nazzaro, the Swiss festival’s artistic director, mentioned “the whole discussion around artificial intelligence” as one of the themes featured across the fest. “We didn’t seek out these themes. We didn’t say ‘okay, we are going to have a festival focusing on certain themes’,” he emphasized though. Instead, after finishing the selection for Locarno 2024, his team noticed overarching and underlying subjects. “The festival is a catalyst for major dialogue, intensive exchanges,” Nazzaro concluded.

What might surprise festivalgoers is how different the filmmakers’ approaches to digital worlds and AI are.

New York-based Visit Films has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding German-speaking Europe, Benelux and the Philippines, to “Electric Child” from Swiss writer-director Simon Jaquemet. The film will world premiere Friday at Locarno Film Festival in competition in the Piazza Grande outdoor theater. Variety has been given exclusive access to the first-look clip (below).

“Electric Child” tells the story of a father’s desperate attempt to help his newborn son by going far outside moral norms and into dangerously uncharted territory when he appropriates and reengineers a high-level, superpower AI simulation at his work.

“I aimed to depict human vulnerability against the backdrop of advanced technology,” Jaquemet said. “The goal was to immerse the audience in my main character Sonny’s journey, intertwining it with the unpredictable power of AI, creating a visually and emotionally compelling experience.”

Visit’s president Ryan Kampe said: “Humanity should be both excited and worried about...

Swiss auteur Simon Jaquemet’s “Electric Child” joins Ukrainian sci-fi comedy “U Are the Universe,” and “We Are Zombies,” from heavily rated Canadian trio Rkss, as three potential highlights at this year’s Cannes Marché du Film’s Frontières Platform, organized with the Fantasia Film Festival.

Focusing on genre, the Frontières showcase is emerging as one of the Marché du Film’s biggest market plays, supercharged by this year’s milestone Oscar triumph of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” smart genre’s popularity among an emerging generation of filmmakers and its rising tide as one of the most resilient of independent movie market propositions.

For Rkss, it’s a return, having had great success with their previous “Turbo Kid,” which went on to Sundance, and won a bunch including at SXSW and Fright Fest.

“U Are the Universe,” deserves a special mention, given the sheer challenge of completing a project...