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The 79th Locarno Film Festival is one of the world's oldest and most respected film festivals, held each summer in the Swiss town of Locarno on the shore of Lake Maggiore. It is known for screening films outdoors to huge crowds at the Piazza Grande, and for balancing high-profile premieres with support for lesser-known and independent cinema.

This year's edition features two notable strands alongside its main programme. Open Doors, now in its second year, is a scheme dedicated to promoting emerging filmmakers from Africa, with a particular emphasis on female directors and producers. Separately, a retrospective looks back at the "Hollywood Blacklist," the period during the McCarthy era in the United States when filmmakers and other industry figures were investigated, blacklisted or driven out of work over suspected communist sympathies.

The festival also presents honorary awards to established figures in cinema, recognising their body of work, and opens with a red-carpet world premiere that draws international attention to the event each year.