John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFollowing a vibrant 2022 edition in a three-year cycle dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean which she oversaw in an interim capacity, Zsuzsi Bánkuti has been appointed the new head of Locarno’s Open Doors. She replaces long-time Open Doors chief Sophie Bourdon, who stepped down earlier this year. The key to this year’s Open Doors was its inspired choice of a focus on smaller territories in Latin America which are often home to first-class directors – one director this year, Dominican Yanillys Pérez scooped a Discovery Award at the Toronto Festival with her doc-feature “Jeffrey,” for example – but, apart from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, lack robust state subsidy systems enabling producers to produce movies easily out of their own countries. The obvious solution is international co-production.
