Riz Ahmed to skip Locarno, Stellan Skarsgard won’t accept award, in solidarity with Hollywood strikers

Los Angeles, July 28 (IANS) The SAG-AFTRA strikes have taken Hollywood by storm and affected it in more ways than one as their impact has affected global Film Festivals.

As of now, Locarno Film Festival has said that some of its high profile stars such as Riz Ahmed will not appear, and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard will still come, but won’t accept his award in solidarity with the strikers.

Earlier, the Venice Film Festival was affected much in the same way as several high profile stars, directors and producers refused to attend. As reported by 'The Hollywood Reporter', Riz Ahmed, best known for his roles in films such as ‘Venom’ and ‘Sound of Metal’, was set to receive the Davide Campari Excellence Award, will now no longer attend the festival.

However, the world premiere of his latest film, ‘Dammi’, will still take place on the opening night, while the screening of ‘Mughal Mowgli’ in the Histoire(s) du cinema section will proceed according to schedule.

Skarsgard, who is known well for his roles in movies such as ‘Thor’, ‘Dune’, ‘Good Will Hunting’ and serials such as ‘Chernobyl’ and ‘Andor’, will still appear but won’t be accepting the Leopard Club Award he was set to receive, as a mark of his solidarity with the protestors.

As such, the awards ceremony set for August 4 and the conversation event planned for August 5 have both been canceled, although Skarsgard will be in town for the screening of his new film ‘What Remains’ in the Fuori concorso section.

According to THR, “The Locarno Film Festival sees the ongoing strike as a sign of the problems troubling the contemporary film industry,” the festival said in a statement. “We support a constructive discussion and resolution between the parties involved and respectfully accept the decisions of our guests.”

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