“In the Heart there is a Stone”, shot in the Locarno region, has its Swiss premiere at the Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

Shot among the gorges of Ponte Brolla, the Pozzo di Tegna, the Mulino del Brumo in Ronco sopra Ascona, the Cascata del Salto in Maggia, Cevio and Brontallo, Naomi Pacifique’s short film “In the Heart there is a Stone” will have its Swiss premiere in the Swiss Competition of the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur on Thursday 5 November at 8 pm. Further screenings follow on Friday 6 November at 12 pm and 5.30 pm and on Sunday 8 November at 12.30 pm.
 

After confessing her feelings to Matteo and finding they are not returned, Naomi heads out into the nature of the valley. Among rocks, water and unexpected encounters, including one with a lost horse, she gradually reconnects with the world around her. For the director, the rocks of the Valle Maggia have become a familiar place, and the valley’s landscapes are at the heart of the film.
 

A Swiss-Dutch artist born in Costa Rica and raised in Lausanne, Naomi Pacifique studied at Oxford University and the London Film School. Her graduation film “after a room” won the Pardino d’Argento Swiss Life at the Locarno Film Festival in 2021. Her following short, “Looking She Said I Forget” (2024), which premiered in competition at Pardi di domani, was shortlisted for the 2025 European Film Awards and nominated for the Swiss Film Award. She is now developing her first two feature films, supported among others by the Locarno Film Festival’s Feature Film Residency.
 

Several professionals from Ticino also worked on the film. Sarah Schiesser oversaw the Ticino shoot for Lido Pictures, Antonino Mangiaracina worked as grip and Erica Nicol Bulian, a 2025 CISA graduate, joined the camera department as an intern.
 

“In the Heart there is a Stone” is produced by Lido Pictures GmbH and Idle Eye, with the support of the Ticino Film Commission, and distributed by Square Eyes.