The Cinémathèque suisse at Locarno Film Festival

As a long-standing partner of the Locarno Film Festival, the Cinémathèque suisse lends several films from its collections each year. As part of the 2026 edition, which will take place from 5 to 15 August, it is presenting two screenings of restored films and is taking part in a major retrospective on American cinema during the McCarthy era

Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch

Restored with the support of Memoriav, two films by the filmmaker Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch will be screened in the ‘Cinéma Suisse Redécouvert’ section: Geister und Gäste (1989), on Brissago’s Grand Hotel, and Sirenen-Eiland (1981), an experimental and feminist film that explores the mythological world of mermaids through contemporary female figures; the film was restored by Silver Hesse with the support of Memoriav and deposited at the Cinémathèque suisse. On Tuesday, August 11, a roundtable dedicated to the director’s work will take place at the Forum Spazio Cinema.

Partnership for the retrospective

This year, Locarno will be showcasing an extensive programme dedicated to Hollywood’s infamous ‘Blacklist’, one of the most turbulent and politically charged chapters in the history of American cinema. Curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht in collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse and with the support of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the programme “Red & Black: Hollywood Left and the Blacklist” explores a period in which filmmakers and artists, faced with unprecedented political pressure, demonstrated great creative resilience. A book – edited by Ehsan Khoshbakht, curator of the retrospective – is also being published to mark the occasion. Several feature films will be screened at the Capitole cinema in Lausanne from November onwards.