BaseCamp was born from the urgent need to foster new connections between the Locarno Film Festival and the next generation of talents. At a time when the cost of participation can outweigh enthusiasm, it turned a structural barrier into a space for experimentation and collaboration. Each August, for 11 days, BaseCamp welcomes, in Locarno, 200 talents from different disciplinary fields — filmmakers, designers, musicians, writers, performers, thinkers — under one roof to live, experiment, and exchange ideas.

BaseCamp functions as a temporary community — part workspace, part meeting ground — where participants collaborate in close proximity.

By night, the BaseCamp Pop-Up awakens: open to everyone with free access, it hosts installations, performances, conversations, and live events that foster collective practices and exchange — plus affordable food and drinks.

BaseCamp is also about education. In 2022, the BaseCamp Academy was created — a daily program of meetings, masterclasses, conversations, and roundtables. What sets the BaseCamp Academy apart is its multidisciplinary approach, which, although part of a film festival, goes beyond the boundaries of cinema as a classical art form and embraces new languages, formats, and artistic and scientific expressions, fostering constant cross-pollination between them. Over the years, several internationally renowned guests have helped make the Academy’s program truly unique.

Within the educational journey offered by BaseCamp, the annual event “Future of…” stands out — an initiative created in collaboration with Professor for the Future of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, Kevin B. Lee. Through meetings, lectures, and artistic performances, the “Future of…” event creates cultural, political, social, and ethical scenarios imagining the world of tomorrow.

From the outset, BaseCamp was never intended to be a fixed entity; it’s a living experiment, evolving each year as a creative laboratory and cultural epicentre. BaseCamp reminds us that festivals need not be passive showcases but active arenas where new ideas emerge, are tested, and take shape.

This must be the place!

BaseCamp was born from the urgent need to foster new connections between the Locarno Film Festival and the next generation of talents. At a time when the cost of participation can outweigh enthusiasm, it turned a structural barrier into a space for experimentation and collaboration. Each August, for 11 days, BaseCamp welcomes, in Locarno, 200 talents from different disciplinary fields — filmmakers, designers, musicians, writers, performers, thinkers — under one roof to live, experiment, and exchange ideas.

BaseCamp functions as a temporary community — part workspace, part meeting ground — where participants collaborate in close proximity.

By night, the BaseCamp Pop-Up awakens: open to everyone with free access, it hosts installations, performances, conversations, and live events that foster collective practices and exchange — plus affordable food and drinks.

BaseCamp is also about education. In 2022, the BaseCamp Academy was created — a daily program of meetings, masterclasses, conversations, and roundtables. What sets the BaseCamp Academy apart is its multidisciplinary approach, which, although part of a film festival, goes beyond the boundaries of cinema as a classical art form and embraces new languages, formats, and artistic and scientific expressions, fostering constant cross-pollination between them. Over the years, several internationally renowned guests have helped make the Academy’s program truly unique.

Within the educational journey offered by BaseCamp, the annual event “Future of…” stands out — an initiative created in collaboration with Professor for the Future of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, Kevin B. Lee. Through meetings, lectures, and artistic performances, the “Future of…” event creates cultural, political, social, and ethical scenarios imagining the world of tomorrow.

From the outset, BaseCamp was never intended to be a fixed entity; it’s a living experiment, evolving each year as a creative laboratory and cultural epicentre. BaseCamp reminds us that festivals need not be passive showcases but active arenas where new ideas emerge, are tested, and take shape.

This must be the place!