Locarno, Netflix acquires Danny Boyle's 'Ink' as Olivia Wilde fills Piazza Grande

Danny Boyle’s film ‘Ink’, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, has been acquired by Netflix. The film will also be presented at the Toronto International Film Festival, thus expanding its visibility path following its Venice debut.

Meanwhile, at the Locarno Film Festival, the screening of Olivia Wilde’s ‘The Invite’ in Piazza Grande sold out, with more than 8,000 spectators in attendance. The number places the screening among the events with the greatest public draw at the Swiss festival, whose open-air venue is known for hosting some of the festival’s most closely followed premieres.

At the StepIn conference, held on the sidelines of the Locarno festival, research was also presented on the professional background of the directors and screenwriters behind the century’s highest-grossing films. The study argues that a large share of the greatest cinematic successes of recent decades has been the work of authors coming from families already established in the entertainment industry, a finding that sparked discussion among industry professionals present at the conference.

Netflix’s acquisition of ‘Ink’ confirms streaming platforms’ interest in titles emerging from major European festivals this season, while the film’s run at both Venice and Toronto broadens its coverage across the major international events of the autumn.

Between the two events in Locarno — the mass screening in Piazza Grande and the presentation of the study on the professional background of the most successful filmmakers — a picture emerges of a festival that combines attention to a general audience with reflection on the industrial dynamics of contemporary cinema, two dimensions that the Swiss festival continues to hold together in its programming.