Locarno Honoree Sigurjón Sighvatsson on AI, Netflix and Why Cannes “Doesn’t Know What It Is Anymore”
Producer Sigurjón "Joni" Sighvatsson, best known for David Lynch's *Wild at Heart* and TV's *Twin Peaks*, is being honoured with the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at this week's Locarno Film Festival. In an interview ahead of the ceremony, he praised Locarno's eclectic, less star-driven approach and argued that larger festivals such as Cannes have lost a clear sense of purpose, while also weighing in on artificial intelligence's growing role in filmmaking and voicing scepticism about Netflix's approach to distribution.
Sighvatsson, who co-founded Propaganda Films in 1986, will collect the award, named after Locarno's president from 1981 to 1999, on the Piazza Grande on Thursday evening at the festival's 79th edition. He contrasted Locarno's flexible, unpredictable programming with what he sees as Cannes' loss of identity since his Palme d'Or win for *Wild at Heart* in 1990, suggesting bigger festivals have become "prisoners of their own success." On AI, he said the technology is a "double-edged sword" that will aid some productions but won't fundamentally change cinema, since films remain about people and stories, citing Christopher Nolan's deliberate avoidance of AI on *The Odyssey* versus Disney's live-action *Moana*, which he felt looked AI-generated despite using real actors and CGI.
- Producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson receives Locarno's Rezzonico Award this week.
- He says Cannes has lost its identity; praises Locarno's varied programming.
- He calls AI a "double-edged sword" that will aid, not transform, filmmaking.
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Producer Sigurjón "Joni" Sighvatsson is a veteran filmmaker perhaps best known for co-writing and producing David Lynch's Wild at Heart, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1990, and for producing the television series Twin Peaks. He also co-founded the production company Propaganda Films in 1986, a business that shaped a generation of music videos and films. He is now being given a career-recognition prize at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, a long-running event known for championing more unconventional, less celebrity-focused cinema than larger festivals.
The award itself, the Raimondo Rezzonico Award, is named after a former president of Locarno and is presented at the festival's outdoor Piazza Grande venue. Locarno is now in its 79th edition, and this year's ceremony gives Sighvatsson an occasion to reflect on his long career and share his views on the wider film industry, including how it compares to bigger festivals such as Cannes.
The backdrop to his comments is a film industry currently grappling with major changes, including the rise of streaming services like Netflix as an alternative to cinema releases, and the growing use of artificial intelligence in film production. Both issues are widely debated among filmmakers, since they touch on how movies are made, funded and watched, making veteran industry figures' perspectives of interest to those following the debate.