Call for a position of Professor at USI,

joint with the Locarno Film Festival (open

rank)

Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema

and Audiovisual Arts

The Università della Svizzera italiana, Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society,
invites applications for a position as

Professor (open rank)
named
Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts

Profile of the University, the Faculty and the Locarno Film Festival
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) is one of the 12 certified public universities in Switzerland
and member of swissuniversities .USI is a young and lively university, a hub of opportunity open
to the world where students are offered a quality interdisciplinary education in which they can be
fully engaged and take centre stage, and where researchers can count on having the space to
freely pursue their initiatives. USI and its affiliated research institutes attract a substantial amount
of competitive research funds every year, mainly from the Swiss National Science Foundation and
the European Union. USI is featured in the most important international rankings. In particular it
ranks 26th worldwide in the prestigious QS Top 50 Under-50; 54th in the Young University
Rankings' of the Times Higher Education, and 20th in the 'THE world's best small universities
2020’ rankings.
The Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society is committed to research and teaching
excellence in innovative fields of humanities and social sciences, and offers an edgy and
highly international context. With a strong interdisciplinary approach, it especially explores the
complex challenges that society is faced with, namely: digital technologies and global
communication networks; cross-cultural interactions; the way communication and marketing
decisions in profit, public, and non-profit organisations intersect markets, culture, and society;
and, paradigmatic shifts in the way culture is shaped and conveyed.
The Locarno Film Festival (LFF), one of the longest-lived and most important film festivals in the
world, was created after the end of WWII, capturing the cultural ferment of the post-war period
and the newfound values of freedom (a spirit that has always distinguished its guidelines ever
since). LFF aims at launching the works of independent filmmakers, focusing on the distribution
and support of films made by young directors, to offer the public an overview of the most recent
auteur and popular productions – often world or international premieres – and to deepen and
broaden the knowledge of the history of cinema, through its annual retrospectives. Thousands of
film fans and industry professionals meet at the Festival every summer, with in common a craving
and a passion for cinema in all its diversity. The audience is the soul of the Festival, as embodied
by the famous evenings on the Piazza Grande, whose magical setting can accommodate up to
8,000 filmgoers every night. In recent years, the Festival has also consolidated its commitment to
the training and inclusion of young people, thanks to the activities of Locarno Pro and the Locarno
Academy. Unable by the health crisis to take place in its usual form, in 2020 the Locarno Film
Festival accelerated a process of reflection and change, launching a signal of solidarity with the
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film industry and enhancing the possibilities offered by digital. It was with this in mind that the
Locarno Film Festival began to collaborate with USI to reflect on the future of events and to
ensure that the Locarno Film Festival continues to be an avant-garde model of an international
festival, maintaining a world primacy while having a strong local relationship, and following the
fundamental values that define it: having courage, defending freedom and being aware that
culture contributes to the upholding human dignity. One of the main current challenges of the
Locarno Film Festival is to identify the fields of activity in which technology makes it possible to go
beyond the "geographical boundaries" of an event organised in the city of Locarno and the
"temporal boundaries" of an 11-day programme.
The synergy between the Locarno Film Festival and USI has taken shape over the past twenty
years, though, in several key activities of the Locarno Academy, such as the Documentary
Summer School, and the selection of short films made by the students of the USI Academy of
Architecture. These have been joined by more recent collaborations, namely the Strategic
Development Partnership in the field of strategic and organisational development of the LFF, but
also the Locarno Media City initiative, a partnership with the City of Locarno, the Palacinema, and
Swisscom, which, among other innovations, will enhance the role and utilization of the Locarno
Film Festival archives.

Candidate Profile
Subject focus
The subject focus of the candidate shall be in that of cinema and/or cultural production and
management in the audio-visual context. Ideally, she/he is also competent in curating and
organising cultural events and, in general, she/he reflects on cultural events, on the evolution of
film storytelling and film criticism.
A profile defined by transversal training and/or professional curricula that privileges
interdisciplinary approaches. The candidate is also familiar with artistic experimentation, as an
act of creativity and research. In full continuity with the spirit of the Locarno Film Festival, which
has always been marked by the desire to discover new talents, the candidate will manage to
broaden the boundaries of the art of film and experiments with new lines of research, artistic
action and programming.
Scientific and personal profile
The candidate has an international professional, research and training experience. She/he
combines academic activity – research and teaching – with a broad and international reach and
involvement in the film and/or audio-visual sector (or related), as event curator, film critic and
experimenter of new practices of reflection on motion pictures. The candidate’s activity
encompasses the digital dimension, not only in the production of digital images but also in the
digital distribution of cinema and/or audio-visual content.
A profile, which is also strongly focused on practice, favours interdisciplinary experimentation
and dialogue. The candidate’s research is supported by the performative use of its engagement
in the cinema and/or audio-visual sector.
The candidate has a marked ability to dialogue with different audiences, both internal and
external, starting from USI and LFF, to manage inclusive reflection and innovation processes
and to activate networks of contacts within the communities of reference.
To this end, the candidate has expertise in the development and financing of research and open
innovation projects involving the various communities of reference for the LFF.
Her/his research captures trends in the field of cinema, audio-visual and their production, as well
as their design and development also as cultural events. In particular, the candidate studies the
transformations offered by the change in production, consumption and communication/marketing
of cinema in society. Through teaching and thought leadership activities, the candidate is also
able to communicate and foster these trends, making them become reference practices. She/he
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does so with an awareness of what is changing, thanks to a deep knowledge of classical and
contemporary cinema. As a disseminator, the candidate is able to orchestrate an articulated
training project.
The cooperative and communicative spirit of the candidate will allow him/her to bring a large
academic community into the festival, which goes beyond the one she/he is personally and
directly in contact with. Moreover, this community does not only include the one related to its
area, cinema and audio-visual, but also includes other artistic sectors and application skills. The
candidate is able to promote and manage interdisciplinary logics with the aim of co-devising a
context of reflection and project paths within the LFF and USI, and with the involvement of third
party entities. In this sense, the candidate’s profile is defined by a marked curatorial sensitivity.
Seniority
Considering the role, and in particular the need to interface and manage complex contexts,
a profile with already consolidated experience, ideally mid-career, is preferred,

Job Description
At USI, the successful candidate will be expected to:

• promote research also in association with research programs funded by the Swiss
  National Science Foundation and similar institutions;


• develop, coordinate, and teach courses/seminars on her/his topic areas at different
  levels: Bachelor, Master and Doctoral;


• coordinate assistants’ activities and act in an advisory capacity for PhD candidates;
  actively participate in the work of the Faculty Council and related ad-hoc
  committees;


• connect the competences available at USI in the field of cinema and the audio-visual
  arts, thus contributing to one of USI's defining elements, interdisciplinarity, which is
  also strongly emphasized in the 2021-2024 strategic planning of USI, and supporting
  the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society as USI's most interdisciplinary
  and interconnected Faculty. In addition, the successful candidate will consolidate the
  role of academic reference at the LFF, enabling as such access to a field of great
  interest for research.

At the Locarno Film Festival the successful candidate will be expected to:

• contribute to the training activities of LFF addressed to students, continuing education
  programmes, seminars, lectures, round tables and ad hoc programmes involving both
  student audiences and film and audio-visual enthusiasts. The development of training
  activities is part of the current initiatives proposed by Locarno Young and Locarno Pro,
  strengthening their impact and their ability to contribute to the training of talents in both
  the artistic and curatorial fields;


• contribute to the development of the "cultural collective" that today shapes the many
  initiatives that are included in the summer programme and that are also offered
  throughout the year, taking on the role of a driving force for critical reflection, broadening
  perspectives, building bridges, creativity and therefore overall growth.

The professor will have privileged access, at various levels, to the LFF, and will act as an
independent advisor of the LFF, albeit through a genuine and active involvement with the
LFF.
The total teaching load within degree programs is of 18 ECTS per year for a full-time position
of associate and full professor and 12 ECTS for a position of assistant professor.

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Contract and salary
The position offered is full-time. However, part-time employment is not excluded. In the case of
part-time employment, the successful candidate is required to give priority to this position.
The successful candidate will share her/his activity between the USI campus in Lugano and the
USI office in Locarno.
The salary offered is highly competitive and will be defined based on experience and
qualifications.
The terms of the contract are defined by the University Statutes
(content.usi.ch/sites/default/files/storage/attachments/press/press-usi-statuto-it.pdf).
The position would start as of September 2021.

Residence and Language
The professor should take residence in Ticino (Italian-speaking part of Switzerland).
The University’s graduate programs are taught mainly in English, while Bachelor classes are
taught in Italian. Fluency in Italian is initially a plus, but required within the third year. The
knowledge of a second Swiss national language is welcomed.

Application and Required Documentation:
Applicants should submit:

• a letter of motivation addressed to the Dean of the Faculty;


• a detailed CV including a list of publications, together with documentation of relevant
  academic qualifications, teaching, service and professional experience;


• copies of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 publications of relevance for the
  position;


• names of three referees.

As an Equal Opportunities employer, USI ensures equality in recruitment, development,
retention and promotion of staff, and that no one is disadvantaged on the basis of their gender,
cultural background, disability, sexual orientation or identity. We encourage everyone who meets
the selection criteria to apply. We particularly encourage and appreciate applications from
women.

Deadline
Applications received by the end of January 2021 will be given priority.
Please send your electronic application to the Faculty’s Dean by e-mail, addressed to:
Università della Svizzera italiana
Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society
Prof. Luca M. Visconti, Dean
Via Giuseppe Buffi 13
CH-6904 Lugano
E-mail: concorsi.com@usi.ch

For further information, please contact

Prof. Luca M. Visconti (for USI)
luca.visconti@usi.ch

Raphaël Brunschwig, Chief Operating Officer (for Locarno Film Festival)
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raphael.brunschwig@locarnofestival.ch