Locarno Takeaways From Emma Thompson to Global Distrib Strategies 

LOCARNO, Switzerland — Unspooling in sweltering humidity, Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival , Europe’s biggest mid-Summer movie event, sometimes dazzled, led by an ebullient Emma Thompson.

More than anything else, in industry terms, it underscored how major festivals in the world just below the Big Five of Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto, are now realigning and surging as part of a global movie economy. That is as true of Locarno, best known as a bastion of high-art auteurs – as in different ways of San Sebastián, Karlovy Vary and Tallinn to name the smaller “A” list festivals in Europe.

Following, seven takeaways from Locarno – with more to come – including what Thompson, Jackie Chan , Alexander Payne and Lucy Liu said at the Swiss fest, Locarno’s global distribut