Masterclass with Petra Volpe:
Cinema of Care, told from Switzerland to the world
The Migros Culture Percentage Story Lab organised a masterclass at the Locarno Film Festival. Director and screenwriter Petra Volpe offered insights into her work; the discussion was moderated by AC Coppens.
The masterclass took place on an equal footing. Rather than on stage, the discussion took place in the centre of a circle. Members of the audience were invited to ask questions and contribute to the discussion. “I believe in being generous and sharing everything you know, because sharing is caring,” said Volpe. She sees cinema as a ‘medium of empathy’ and uses her films to explore what shapes human relationships, particularly between people in unequal positions. “My interest in storytelling lies in telling local stories in a global way,” she explained. She wants to find a universal foundation that transcends borders and languages. To this end, Volpe believes that, as an artist, it is important to continually grapple with three central questions: What stories do I really want to tell? Which themes are truly important to me? What lies deep in my heart? The great challenge lies in distilling these answers down to their essence: “Storytelling is about finding simplicity. Being simple, clear and focused is the most difficult task of all.’ What insights have been particularly valuable to her on her journey? ‘A very important part of artistic work is not being afraid of the unknown and allowing yourself not to know all the answers. This is an extremely productive attitude: accepting a certain degree of uncertainty.’
About Petra Volpe
Petra Volpe lives and works in Berlin and New York. The Swiss-Italian screenwriter and director has been working as a freelancer in the film industry since 2001: in 2017, she received the Swiss Film Award for the screenplay for “Die göttliche Ordnung”. Petra Volpe also wrote the screenplay for the film “Heidi” (2015) and for the SRF series “Frieden” (2020). Her feature film “Heldin” won the Swiss Film Award for Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay in 2026 and made it onto the Oscar shortlist. Her latest film, “Frank & Louis”, is a US prison drama and marks her English-language debut.
Impressions
For the fifth time, the Migros Culture Percentage Story Lab was a partner of BaseCamp. Launched in 2019, this project offers young filmmakers the opportunity to immerse themselves fully in the Locarno Film Festival for eleven days and forge new contacts within the industry. This year’s edition of the programme, called ‘A Promise to Respect’, brought together 200 up-and-coming international talents. Every year, filmmakers supported by the Migros Culture Percentage Story Lab have the opportunity to take part in the programme.
