IBSA at the Locarno Film Festival, as a Diversity & Inclusion Partner
The 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival – one of the most important European cinematographic events, which has always pursued an idea of cinema as artistic rebirth and freedom – will open on August 2.
IBSA has been supporting the Festival since 2019 with different activities and projects. The company has distinguished itself in recent years as Official Climate Action Promoter, to endorse and raise awareness of environmental sustainability, ecology and waste recycling issues, while this year it will support the Festival as aDiversity & Inclusion Partner.
INCLUSION AT THE HEART OF THE LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
Based on the enhancement of diversity, the Locarno Film Festival is a meeting place that has always offered an event accessible to all, also by supporting films that enrich culture, art and society. IBSA believes in values of inclusiveness and sharing, and recognises the importance of supporting diversity as an element of wealth and growth for both the people and the community as a whole.
Because of this, IBSA has become a Diversity & Inclusion Partner, an endorsement that is also a statement of commitment, so that the Festival can become increasingly inclusive and accessible.
And the 2023 edition of the Locarno Film Festival promises to be even more inclusive: the aim is to make the event even more accessible also to people with hearing, visual and motor disabilities, with cognitive or mental disorders and age-related problems, to aim to a barrier-free experience, truly open to all.
In this regard, with IBSA’s support, the Festival has implemented several measures, such as the relaxed screenings (during which the lights remain dimmed, noise is tolerated and it is possible to leave and re-enter the room), and the introduction of translations into sign language during the official moments, as a service for people with disabilities. Also this year, there will be some titles accessible through audio descriptions and subtitles, for the blind and the deaf, as well as for visually and hearing impaired people, respectively.
Locarno is awaiting everyone – cinema enthusiasts and not – to transform itself into the largest open-air cinema in Europe, promising to give many emotions and show that true inclusion is possible.
IBSA AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
The collaboration between IBSA and the Locarno Film Festival is part of the broader framework of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility activities, committed to promoting sustainability and social inclusion on various fronts, both at the Swiss headquarters and internationally. In this direction go the support projects in favor of:
Casa dos Curumins, the association that promotes the socio-cultural inclusion of children, teenagers and the elderly in the favelas of Pedreira in São Paulo, Brazil;
I Camaleonti (“The Chameleons”), the Lugano (CH) football team made up of people with disabilities;
I Bambini delle Fate (“The Children of the Fairies”), the social enterprise that ensures financial support for projects in favor of families with autistic children and teenagers. In Lodi (Italy), this takes the form of support for the project "Aiuta ad aiutare la Fondazione Danelli" (“Help to help the Fondazione Danelli”);
