On Wednesday evening, Italian-American actress, model and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini helped kick off the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival with star power, receiving the Swiss fest’s Excellence Award. On Thursday, the icon discussed her career and other insights during a public conversation as part of the festival program.
In between anecdotes about her collaborations with famous directors and actors, things turned political for a moment when an audience member asked her about life in the U.S. and whether she ever considers moving for political reasons. The translation of the question and her response didn’t include mentions of U.S. President Donald Trump, but the query was widely understood as a reference to some creatives’ discussions of a potential move abroad due to Trump.
“America is a continent,” Rossellini started off her response as the question had mentioned “America” rather than the U.S., querying the audience member: “Why do you live in Europe if there is a country you don’t like?”
But she then seemed to focus on U.S. politics, saying: “The political situation is very bad, very hard. We’re thinking about going back. But I have a farm. I have sheep. I have hens. I have land.” That was a reference to her primary home, Mama Farm, a big organic farm that she founded in 2013 on Long Island. “So, should we abandon everything?” Rossellini continued. “We are going to stay, so far, and I hope that things will get better.”
The icon also received a broad question about changes and disruptions affecting the entertainment industry. Streaming, AI and other technologies bring “a lot of opportunities but also a crisis,” Rossellini offered. “Film festivals are crowded, but then local movie cinemas are empty.” But she concluded on an upbeat note, saying: “I’m optimistic. Creating art has always been difficult… And there are beautiful films being made with iPhones only.”
How does Rossellini feel about acting in series? “I don’t like TV shows because they are so long,” she said, explaining she meant simply the amount of time they require, not any creative aspects. “I just want to be a guest star because I don’t want to stay away from home for eight months,” Rossellini shared. “That’s why I stopped doing theater.”
In being honored on Locarno’s Piazza Grande on Wednesday evening, Rossellini recalled how her famous father Paolo and brother Renzo had previously received awards at Locarno, sharing: “To be on par with my father and my brother fills me with great emotion.”
Her Thursday conversation was moderated by Olivier Père, the former artistic director of the Locarno festival and now executive director of ARTE France Cinéma and head of its cinema unit since 2012. He is also part of the jury for the international competition of Locarno79.
