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FESTIVALS Switzerland

Irene Bignardi explains her departure from Locarno

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On the 16th of June, after five years as artistic director of the Locarno International Film Festival, Irene Bignardi announced her departure during the 2005 edition (3 - 13 August).
The Italian journalist, stating that the decision was "guided by strictly personal motivations ", confided the profound reasons for her resignation in a long interview given to the Swiss Alemmanic edition of Migros-Magazin (n º 29, July 2005), a publication which sells over one and half million copies. Exhausted by criticism, the artistic director spoke lamentedly, of what's wrong with the country, of a lack of recognition- not to mention domestic problems: "When the wife isn't home, no-one tidies up…" - she evoqued the competition from the festivals at Venice and Cannes, and also Switzerland's four-languages : "If we chose an Alemmanic film, the Romands felt left out. For Swiss people, this is a divided country. For me, it is one nation, end of story." Bitter, Irene Bignardi took an opportunity to take a pot-shot at her predecessor, Marco Müller, currently head of the Venice Film Festival: "He has nothing to say about Locarno, apart from the fact that he was here before the year 2000. But he was very negative about the festival and about me. He hurt me. I won't talk about the damage he inflicted."

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(Translated from French)

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