The 79th Locarno Film Festival opens its doors on Aug. 5, 2026, and tucked inside the 11-day run is Locarno Pro — the festival's industry programme, now in its 15th edition, running Aug. 6–11 — where roughly 2,000 accredited professionals gather to argue, deal, and decide what independent cinema reaches screens in the years ahead. Markus Duffner, directing Locarno Pro for his sixth year, expects about three-quarters of those guests to come from Europe. The crowd breaks down to an estimated 800 producers, 350 buyers, 100 sales agents, and 300 festival programmers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter

The 2026 programme opens with the StepIn session, a panel series exploring how power structures, politics, AI, and data are reshaping independent cinema. It is a programming choice that meets the moment: artificial intelligence has moved from a fringe worry to a central conversation across the film business, and Locarno is putting it on the agenda on day one.

Two talent and co-production platforms return. Open Doors, Locarno's co-production platform and talent development programme, runs for its second year with a focus on Africa, spotlighting six projects in development, six producers, and five directors. First Look, the works-in-progress initiative — where buyers get an early peek at films still in post-production — turns its spotlight on Uruguay, showcasing six Uruguayan films in partnership with ACAU, Uruguay's national cinema and audiovisual agency. The Hollywood Reporter

Familiar fixtures are back on the schedule. Match Me!, a structured networking platform for emerging producers, returns alongside Alliance 4 Development, the co-development programme linking European regions. The Locarno Heritage programme, devoted to classic film restoration and reappraisal, and U30, a think tank for young industry professionals, round out the returning lineup.

New additions arrive too. Locarno Pro launches its first podcast, extending the conversation beyond the Swiss lakeside. A new Open Doors Connect programme allows foundations, film institutions, and organisations to sponsor an industry professional's attendance — a model designed to widen access for participants who might not otherwise afford the trip.

The Locarno Investment Community, which connects private investors with independent film projects, returns for its second edition. In its inaugural year it drew about 40 private investors, a figure that signals how the festival is working to build bridges between traditional film financing and outside capital.

What gives Locarno Pro its weight in the festival calendar is its timing and its scale. The Venice Film Festival does not open until early September, and Toronto follows close behind. Locarno, set in a small Swiss town on Lake Maggiore, fills the gap in early August as a place where the independent sector — producers, buyers, sales agents, programmers, and increasingly, investors — takes stock before the autumn marketplace season begins. With roughly 2,000 professionals, it is not the largest industry gathering on the calendar, but it is among the most focused, and the 2026 programme's emphasis on AI, African talent, and a Uruguayan spotlight reflects the conversations the sector is actually having.