Locarno Festival

The Locarno Film Festival is an annual celebration of cinema held in the enchanting town of Locarno, Switzerland, since 1946. Renowned for its commitment to art house films, it stands among the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the world.

Each year, the festival presents a diverse array of both competitive and non-competitive sections, featuring a wide range of formats from feature-length narratives and documentaries to shorts, avant-garde films, and retrospectives. A key highlight is the Piazza Grande, an idyllic open-air venue that can accommodate up to 8,000 movie enthusiasts under the stars.

The festival's highest honor is the Golden Leopard, awarded to the best film in the International Competition. Other significant awards include the Leopard of Honour for lifetime achievement and the Prix du Public UBS, determined by audience votes. Over the decades, the festival has served as a launchpad for films by distinguished directors like Stanley Kubrick, Pedro Costa, and Jim Jarmusch.

Various competitive categories enrich the festival's offerings, such as the Concorso internazionale (International Competition), Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Filmmakers of the Present), and Pardi di domani (Leopards of Tomorrow). Special recognitions, including the Pardo d'onore Swisscom, Excellence Award, Best Independent Producer Award, Vision Award, and Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrate extraordinary contributions to cinema.

The festival's artistic vision has been shaped by illustrious figures like Marco Müller and Carlo Chatrian. The presidency has seen leaders such as Camillo Beretta and Marco Solari, while the operational aspects are efficiently managed by dedicated professionals like Chief Operating Officer Raphaël Brunschwig.