REAL Academy – Reality Exploration Academy of Locarno
What is “real” in today’s media landscape? How can cinema make sense of it? REAL – Reality Exploration Academy of Locarno is a ten-day program that brings together cutting-edge audiovisual research and creative practices to explore how reality is represented, questioned, and reimagined on screen. At the crossroads of theory and industry, it offers a unique space for dialogue between scholars and filmmakers, inviting participants to reflect critically on the power and responsibility of filming the real.
REAL builds on the legacy of the successful Documentary Summer School after 25 editions with a new reimagined format for the 26th, designed to challenge perspectives and propose new ways to navigate the evolving landscape of non-fiction media. REAL is more than just a summer school, it’s a meeting point between theory and industry, where academic insight and film culture collide to explore the future of nonfiction storytelling.
REAL embraces an innovative approach that incorporates video essays as practice-based research, utilizing Locarno Film Festival as a laboratory environment for both study and creation.
Course taught by Prof. Kevin B. Lee, organized by the Locarno Film Festival and the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI).
Videos from REAL Academy 2025
Film Fever by Will Rowan
A video about heat, exhaustion and dreams at Locarno Film Festival.
Unbiased Opinion by Vaché Gundishvili
Opposing images of Locarno. Two screens rival for attention and complement each other at the same time.
The Porous Edges of Framing by Laetitia Della Bianca
How can certain depictions bring us closer or push us further from shared realities?
Rhythm of Life by Staša Vuksanović
Fragments of daily motion reveal rhythm as something deeper than sound, a way of perceiving and connecting with the world.