New festival director takes the Locarno stage
Olivier Père will become the new artistic director of the International Locarno Film Festival as of September 1, 2009 organisers announced on Thursday.
Père replaces Frédéric Maire, who is leaving to direct Cinémathèque Suisse, a private film foundation based in Lausanne.
The Locarno festival in southern Switzerland focuses on amateur films and has been in existence for 61 years. It attracted some 180,000 visitors in August, when more than 400 films were screened.
Père, who was born in France, comes to the festival after working with the Directors' Fortnight, which helps select films from around the world to showcase at the Cannes Film Festival.
Maire - a journalist, filmmaker, and teacher from Neuchâtel - had been director of the festival since 2006.
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