Like every major film festival, Locarno's prestigious 75th edition offers a revealing portrait of how contemporary cinema represents diversity and tackles social challenges. Yet while we often focus on what's screened, the festival's real innovation lies elsewhere: in two equally vital areas — making screenings accessible to all viewers, and opening the audiovisual industry itself to disabled artists and workers.
Locarno's screening venues meet the now-essential standard of wheelchair accessibility. Getting around the city can be harder, especially on cobblestone streets, but the free festival shuttle buses are fully accessible too. The festival's website features a detailed accessibility section with photographs, complete information, and a phone number for anyone needing practical help. Accessibility here is not merely guaranteed—it's thoughtfully detailed for those who need it.
We've written before about the challenge facing major festivals: offering sensory-accessible versions of world-premiere films. With Italian as the official language but French and German subtitles more common than Italian, many deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers are simply left out. The breakthrough news is that five films now have audio descriptions in French. Good audio description takes time and money to produce—which is why festivals typically skip it. Here, Locarno is offering it on a competition film, on a popular evening screening in the enormous Piazza Grande (seating eight thousand), and on three films in smaller sections. The program also lists several relaxed screenings: dimmed lights, lower volume, freedom to step out and return during the film—for viewers with particular sensory needs.
To underline this commitment to barrier-free inclusion, the festival organized an international panel titled "Disability & Inclusion in the Audiovisual Industry." A key observation emerged: roughly one quarter of Swiss citizens have some form of disability, yet that quarter is not reflected in festival audiences—so the industry is not representing the public it serves. Two crucial points surfaced about the audiovisual sector. First, the market for disability-inclusive representation remains largely unexplored and could generate substantial revenue. Second, disabled artists don't want quotas—they want equal opportunity to advance on talent alone. Among the panelists was Emmanuel Kelly, whose production company Outlyer focuses on creating work opportunities for disabled people in technical roles—directing, editing, and all the crafts of film and television. Kelly repeatedly stressed how much economic potential an truly inclusive industry could unlock.
Actor Giovanni Venturini, who brought his short film Big Bang to Locarno, described starting out in circus work—which offers employment but often exploits disabled bodies. He felt driven to reclaim his body's creative use, making his own projects with real artistic control. Director Daniela Muñoz Barroso noted that cinema can dissolve sensory barriers—for instance, music can be felt as rhythm by those who cannot hear it; she herself, having lost much of her hearing, learned as a filmmaker to listen with her eyes. Melanie Hoyes of the British Film Institute emphasized the value of frank dialogue with disabled communities, to shape better production policies and so encourage disabled artists to bring their work forward without hesitation.
Locarno calls itself the smallest of the great festivals, or the greatest of the small ones. But it is surely the first festival of its stature to commit so concretely to including all viewers and all artists. The path is still being defined—but it is now clearly marked. Other festivals will have no choice but to follow.