Swatch patner of the Locarno Festival

Switzerland’s biggest film festival is celebrating its 70th birthday, a milestone well worth saluting.

In the course of its history, it has established itself as one of the world’s major events in this domain. As a loyal official partner, Swatch decided to pay a distinctive tribute by creating the Locarno70 special edition.

To mark the festivities, which took place from August 2nd to 12th, this limited and numbered 700-piece edition was available in the Ticino capital of cinema, as well as in the brand’s online boutique. This new special edition featured the festival colours in a bright swish. Prowling around the silicon watch strap, the proud “Pardo” leopard, the festival mascot, recalls the traditional introduction of the films presented on the Piazza Grande.

Within the context of their partnership, the festival and the watch brand share the same determination to support youthful talents in the art world. This year, the Swatch First Feature Award rewarded Ana Urushadze with a 15,000 franc prize for the best fiction feature film. In addition, the First Feature Jury extended an invitation to Gürcan Keltek to take up a three to six-month residency in the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Since its inauguration in November 2011, the hotel has enabled more than 260 artists from more than 45 countries to give free rein to their talent, thus contributing to the evolution of the world of contemporary art. Two former artists in residence honoured the Swiss festival’s Filmmakers Academy with their presence: Zhou Yan and Qui Yang. The latter won the Palme d’or in the Short Film category at the 2017 Cannes Festival for his film A Gentle Night.

August 24, 2017