The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, short, avant-garde, and retrospective programs. The Piazza Grande section is held in an open-air venue that seats 8,000 spectators. The top prize of the festival is the

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be ...

, awarded to the best film in the International Competition. Other awards include the Leopard of Honour for career achievement, and the Prix du Public, the public choice award.

History

The Festival del film Locarno kicked off on 23 August 1946, at the Grand Hotel of Locarno with the screening of the movie ''O sole mio'' by

Giacomo Gentilomo Giacomo Gentilomo (5 April 1909 – 16 April 2001) was an Italian film director and painter. Biography Born in Trieste, at very young age Gentilomo moved to Rome, where at 21 years old he entered the cinema industry, working as a script survivo ...

. The first edition was organized in less than three months with a line-up of fifteen movies, mainly American and Italian, among which was '' Rome, Open City'' directed by

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

, ''

And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, a ...

'' directed by

René Clair René Clair (11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He wen ...

(1945), ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American crime film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same ...

'' by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...

(1944) and '' The Song of Bernadette'' by Henry King (1943). Later, the Festival del film Locarno presented features and short films by many international directors such as

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues a ...

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

, Marco Bellocchio,

Glauber Rocha Glauber de Andrade Rocha (; 14 March 1939 – 22 August 1981) was a Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most influential moviemakers of Brazilian cinema and a key figure of Cinema Novo. His films '' Black God, Whit ...

, Raúl Ruiz,

Alain Tanner Alain Tanner (6 December 1929 – 11 September 2022) was a Swiss film director. Early years and education Tanner was born in Geneva, and studied economics at the University of Geneva. In 1951, he joined the film club which Claude Goretta had r ...

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Des ...

, Béla Tarr,

Chen Kaige Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews wi ...

Edward Yang Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...

, Alexandr Sokurov,

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; hy, Աթոմ Եղոյեան, translit=Atom Yeghoyan; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. Egoyan m ...

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including ''Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' (19 ...

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

, Gregg Araki,

Christoph Schaub Christoph Schaub (born 1958) is a Swiss film director and screenwriter. He has directed fourteen films since 1987. His 2008 film '' Happy New Year'' was entered into the 31st Moscow International Film Festival. Selected filmography * ''Sterne ...

, Catherine Breillat,

Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultu ...

, Pedro Costa, Fatih Akin,

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

and

Kim Ki-Duk Kim Ki-duk ( ; 20 December 196011 December 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his idiosyncratic art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit, rendering him one of ...

. The 73rd edition, scheduled from 5 to 15 August 2020, was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, it was cancelled for the first time since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

; in its place, the special edition called "Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films" was held. The festival had asked high-profile directors including Lucrecia Martel and

Lav Diaz Lavrente Indico Anciro Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. Frequently known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on recor ...

to select films from the festival's 74-year history for a retrospective that was screened online and in physical locations. The 74th Locarno Film Festival took place from 4 to 14 August 2021. Over 75,000 people attended. The 75th Locarno Film Festival took place from 3 to 13 August 2022. It opened with Brad Pitt's film '' Bullet Train''.

Awards

Competitive Awards

''Concorso internazionale'' (international competition) - Awards

* Pardo d'oro (

). Grand Prize of the festival, awarded by the city and region of

, for the best film in the ''concorso internazionale'' (international competition). * Special Jury Prize. Prize, awarded by cities of

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( lmo, label= Ticinese, Scona ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yea ...

and Losone, for the second best film in the ''concorso internazionale'' (international competition). * Leopard for Best Direction. Prize, awarded by the city and region of Locarno, for the best directed film in the concorso internazionale (international competition). * Leopard for Best Actress. * Leopard for Best Actor. * Swatch First Feature Awards. Prize awarded by a jury of international critics to the first works presented in the sections ''concorso internazionale'', ''concorso Cineasti del presente'', ''Fuori concorso'', ''Moving ahead (ex Signs of Life)'' and ''Piazza Grande''.

''Concorso Cineasti del Presente'' (Filmmakers of the Present) - Awards

* Pardo d'oro Cineasti del presente ( Golden Leopard - Filmmakers of the Present). Prize awarded to the best film of this competition, which is dedicated to first or second features. * Ciné+ Special Jury Prize – Cineasti del presente. The French television channel Ciné+ Club offers the broadcast rights to the winning film and guarantees the broadcast on their channel. * Pardo per il miglior regista emergente (Leopard for Best New Director): Prize for the best new director. * Pardo per la migliore opera prima (Leopard for the Best First Feature). Prize which has been awarded from 2006 to 2009 to the best first work screened in the competition concorso internazionale or concorso Cineasti del presente.

''Pardi di domani'' (Leopards of Tomorrow) - Awards

* Pardino d'oro for the Best International Short Film – SRG SSR Prize. Prize awarded to the best short film in the international short film competition ''Pardi di domani.'' * Pardino d'oro for the Best Swiss Short Film – Swiss Life Prize. Prize awarded to the best short film in the national short film competition ''Pardi di domani.'' * Pardino d'argento SSR SRG for the international competition. Prize awarded to a film in the international competition ''Pardi di domani.'' * Pardino d'argento Swiss Life for the national competition. Prize awarded to a film in the national competition ''Pardi di domani.'' * Locarno short film nominee for the European Film Awards – Pianifica Prize. The prize, which is offered by the studio ''Pianifica'', goes to a short film made by a European director, presented in one of the two competitions. The award includes an automatic nomination in the short film category of the European Film Awards. * Prize for Best Swiss Newcomer. The prize provides equipment offered by Cinegrell, Visuals SA, Freestudios SA, Taurus Studio e Avant-première SA/Film Demnächst AG. * Premio Medien Patent Verwaltung AG''.'' The winning film will be subtitled in three central European languages. This subtitling can be inserted on film, video or DVD format. * Green Pardo WWF In collaboration with WWF, the Green Pardo WWF is the prize that aims to find the film which best reflects the environmental theme in any of the Festival’s competition sections. The award constitutes a Green statue and to the director.

Direction and management

Artistic Directors: * 1946–1958: Riccardo Bolla * 1960–1965: Vinicio Beretta * 1966: Sandro Bianconi * 1967–1970: Sandro Bianconi, Freddy Buache * 1971: Commission of direction, composed of seven members from Ticino * 1972–1977:

Moritz de Hadeln Moritz de Hadeln (born 21 December 1940 in Exeter, Devon, England) is a Swiss documentary film director and photographer, who became a Film Festival, Film Festival director. He was the founder of Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel. ...

* 1978–1981: Jean-Pierre Brossard * 1982–1991: David Streiff * 1992–2000: Marco Müller * 2000–2005: Irene Bignardi * 2005–2009: Frédéric Maire * 2010–2012:

Olivier Père Born in 1971 in Marseilles, a French national, Olivier Père graduated with a degree in Humanities from the University of Sorbonne ( Paris IV). He joined the French Cinémathèque in 1995, and soon became in charge of the programme, organizing n ...

* 2012–2018: Carlo Chatrian * 2018–2020:

Lili Hinstin Lili Hinstin (born 10 July 1977 in France) is a French artistic director. She was artistic director of the EntreVues Belfort International Festival and Locarno Film Festival. Lili Hinstin founded the production company ''Les Films du Saut d ...

*2020: Nadia Dresti (ad interim) * 2021–:

Giona A. Nazzaro Giona A. Nazzaro (born 1 June 1965 in Zurich, Switzerland) is the Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival. He is also the General Delegate of the Venice International Film Critics’ Week. and a member of the selection committee at the In ...

Presidents: * 1946–1955: Camillo Beretta * 1957–1962: Enrico Franzioni * 1963–1968: Fernando Gaja * 1970–1980: Luciano Giudici * 1981–1999: Raimondo Rezzonico * Since 2000: Marco Solari Chief Operating Officers: * 2006–2013: Marco Cacciamognaga * 2013–2017: Mario Timbal * Since August 2017: Raphaël Brunschwig (Managing Director since 2022)

Gallery

File:Piazza Grande Locarno.jpg, Piazza Grande screening venue File:Festival internazionale del film di Locarno.JPG, The screen in the Piazza Grande File:Festival-del-film-locarno-03.jpg, Night life during the Festival, Locarno City Garden.

References

External links

Festival del film Locarno Official Site
(in English and Italian)
Festival del film Locarno at Internet Movie Database
{{Authority control Film festivals in Switzerland 1946 establishments in Switzerland Film festivals established in 1946 Tourist attractions in Ticino Locarno Festival