Actors Strike Hits Locarno: Riz Ahmed Pulls Out of Festival, Stellan Skarsgard to Forgo Award in Solidarity

Alex Ritman
·1 min read
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The impact of the actors strike is starting to be felt across upcoming film festivals.

Just days after the Venice Film Festival head revealed that many of the SAG-AFTRA actors in its star-studded lineup might not be able to attend, the Locarno Film Festival, due to start on Aug. 2 in the Swiss city, announced some high-profile withdrawals.

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Riz Ahmed, who was set to receive the Davide Campari Excellence Award, will now no longer attend the festival. However, the world premiere of his latest film, Dammi, will still take place on the opening night, while the screening of Mughal Mowgli in the Histoire(s) du cinéma section is also still in the schedule.

Stellan Skarsgard will attend, but will no longer accept the Leopard Club Award, with the festival saying he will “forgo the award in solidarity with the strike.” The awards ceremony on Aug. 4 and the conversation event planned for Aug. 5 have both been canceled, although Skarsgard will be in town for the screening of his new film What Remains in the Fuori concorso section.

Sundance hit Theater Camp is still set to screen with its co-director Nick Lieberman, but co-director and actor Molly Gordon, as well as actors Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, have pulled out.

“The Locarno Film Festival sees the ongoing strike as a sign of the problems troubling the contemporary film industry,” the festival said in a statement. “We support a constructive discussion and resolution between the parties involved and respectfully accept the decisions of our guests.”

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