Opening this edition, Festival President, Marco Solari stressed the event’s rich history «During its 60 years of existence, the Locarno Film Festival has become a true heritage for Switzerland and the world of the cinema. The entire credit its due to the various artistic directors to the numerous talents who have provided the organisation for years. This anniversary is more than anything else the occasion to foresee the future. We should look with courage at our Festival in ten year time.»

Artistic director Frédéric Maire emphasised that «from its earliest days, Locarno has been a festival where new trends and filmmakers have been discovered. Since then Locarno has remained faithful to this vocation, and become an exceptional launch-pad for young filmmakers from all over the world, who have often gone on to become the major directors of their generation. »
Frédéric Maire then paid tribute to Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni: «We were greatly affected by news of the death of these masters of world cinema. These two immense talents opened up the road to modern cinema whilst also contributing films that have become some of its greatest classics. But the films remain, and will remain with us forever, since cinema is eternal. »

The evening was host to the world premiere of the Japanese manga Vexille, by Fumihiko Sori, with the crew from the film in attendance, screened on the Piazza Grande on HD-Cinema, thus launching a new projection booth equipped with state of the art technology. The evening concluded with a tribute to Ingmar Bergman in the form of a special screening of Saraband (2003), the last film made by the Swedish director, which was shot with digital cameras.