© Locarno Film Festival/ Ti-Press
A total of 37 emerging producers from 14 countries have been selected for Locarno Pro’s international networking initiative Match Me!, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025. From August 8 to 10, Match Me! will curate a series of individual meetings and tailor-made networking activities, connecting participants with potential business partners, co-producers, and key industry players. The initiative serves as a vital platform for emerging producers looking to enhance their international visibility and solidify meaningful collaborations.
Among this year’s participants are Rodrigo Díaz from Fiebre (Chile), producer of Las Criaturas Que Se Derriten Bajo El Sol (2022), which premiered in the Short Film section of La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes; Sarah Radu from Germany’s Matadoras, producer of The Kidnapping of the Bride (2023), winner of the Compass-Perspektive-Award at Berlinale 2023 and the Short Film Jury Award at Sundance’s International Fiction Competition the same year; Darta Vijgrieze from Mitrus Media (Latvia), whose co-productions include Maria’s Silence (Berlinale 2024), January (Tribeca 2022 winner), Natural Light (Silver Bear, Berlinale 2021), and In the Dusk (Cannes 2020); Ruta Kiaupaite of Afterschool (Lithuania), producer of Pilgrims (Best Film, Venice Orizzonti 2021) and Drowning Dry, which won Best Director and Best Ensemble Cast at Locarno 2024; and Andrés Sanjurio García from Acariño Films (Spain), whose hybrid western-documentary Los saldos was selected for Visions du Réel in 2022.
The full list of participants can be found here.
Ayumi Filippone, Match Maker at Match Me!, comments: “Match Me! 2025 mirrors the new generation of rising international producers. They defy genre restrictions, conventional storytelling, and courageously research new financing strategies amid the uncertain current context. Thanks to the support of our partners, Locarno Pro is once again proud to accompany and support a cohort of 37 producers in a milestone moment of their careers.”
Locarno Pro runs from August 7 – 12, 2025, during the 78th Locarno Film Festival.
The 10th edition of Match Me! is organized in collaboration with ACAU - Agencia del Cine y del Audiovisual del Uruguay, Cinecittà, Cinema Chile, Cinema do Brasil, Dominican Republic Film Commission (DGCINE), Estonian Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, German Films, ICA Portugal, ICAA Spain, Lithuanian Film Centre, National Film Centre of Latvia, Polish Film Institute, and Unifrance.
Since its rollout in 2015, Match Me! has served as a launchpad for numerous talents, including Thomas Hakim (petit chaos, France), producer of the Payal Kapadia’ Cannes 2024 Grand Prix winner All We Imagine as Light; Latvian producer Matīss Kaža (Trickster Pictures), whose latest project Flow (Gints Zilbalodis, 2024) won the Oscar®, Golden Globe and César Award for best animated feature; Tatiana Leite (Bubbles Project, Brazil), producer of the Pardo d’Oro winner Rule 34 (Regra 34, 2022) by Júlia Murat; Justė Michailinaitė (Broom Films, Lithuania), executive producer of the Pardo d’Oro winner Toxic (Akiplėša, 2024) by Saulė Bliuvaitė; Pedro Duarte (Primeira Idade, Portugal), producer of the acclaimed The Metamorphosis of Birds (A Metamorfose dos Pássaros, 2020) by Catarina Vasconcelos; and Giovanni Pompili (Kino Produzioni, Italy), co-producer of Carla Simón’s Berlinale-winning Alcarràs (2022).
