Maja Hoffmann appointed new president of the Locarno Film Festival

On 24 July 2023, the Board of Directors of the Locarno Film Festival discussed the proposed succession of Marco Solari as President of the Festival. In accordance with recent decisions, the appointment committee, coordinated by Mario Timbal and comprising Edna Epelbaum and Francesco Lurati, identified a selection of possible candidates and put forward the name of Maja Hoffmann, which was then unanimously approved by the Board of Directors.

Maja Hoffmann will thus become the first woman to hold the position of President of the Locarno Film Festival.

Founder of the LUMA Foundation, one of the largest private cultural projects in Europe, which has been encouraging artistic creation in the visual arts since 2004, Maja Hoffmann is also actively involved in a number of international institutions: she is president of the Swiss Institute New York (USA) and the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles (France), vice-president of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation Collection in Basel (Switzerland) and sits on the boards of the Serpentine Galleries in London (UK), the Kunsthalle Zürich (Switzerland), the New Museum and the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, both in New York (USA) and is a member of Human Rights Watch.

The outgoing president, Marco Solari, will assist her during the transition phase that will begin after the 76th edition of the event.

The Festival also announced that on 20 September of this year, in addition to the name of the new president, The new articles of association will also be submitted to the Extraordinary General Meeting, which provide for a reduction in the number of members of the Board of Directors from 27 to 7, as well as the establishment of two Advisory Boards, the Policy Advisory Board and the Industry Advisory Board, which, thanks to their specific expertise, will support the Board of Directors in its strategic decisions.

The 76th Locarno Film Festival, under the presidency of Marco Solari, will take place from 2 to 12 August 2023.

Extending its best wishes to Maja Hoffmann for the important work she will be called upon to do, the Ticino Film Commission joins the Locarno Film Festival in thanking Marco Solari in advance for his fundamental contribution to the event over more than twenty years as President and for the way in which he has ensured the Festival's development in the new millennium, consolidating its position at a global level.