Locarno International Film Festival

Locarno International Film Festival
Location Locarno, Switzerland
Founded 1946
Awards Golden Leopard
Language International
Website www.pardo.ch

The Film Festival Locarno (Italian: Festival del film Locarno) is an international film festival held annually in August in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Locarno is a film festival accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations).[1] The main feature of the festival is the open-air screening area at the Piazza Grande with room for over 8,000 spectators, having one of the largest open-air screens in the world (26x14 metres).

The top prize of the Festival is the Golden Leopard awarded to the best film in the international competition. Other awards include the Leopard of Honour for outstanding career achievements, and the Prix du Public UBS, the public choice award.

The Locarno Film Festival is well known worldwide as a festival of discovery. Throughout its history the festival has discovered new trends and launched the careers of numerous directors and actors. Although the festival aims at the films, rather than at stars and glamour, several well-known personalities of the international film industry have visited the Locarno International Film Festival in recent years. To name just a few: Willem Dafoe, Terry Gilliam, Anthony Hopkins, Aki Kaurismäki, Abbas Kiarostami, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Gregg Araki, John Malkovich, Carmen Maura, Rose McGowan, Frank Oz, Quentin Tarantino, Penelope Cruz, Michel Piccoli, Robert Rodriguez, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Christian Slater, Alexander Sokurov, Wim Wenders, Gus Van Sant, Luc Besson, Christopher Lee, Edward Norton, Andy Garcia, Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and Faye Dunaway.

History

Birth

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.[2] 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, And Then There Were None directed by René Clair (1945), Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder (1944) and The Song of Bernadette by Henry King (1943). Later, the Festival del film Locarno presented movies and short movies by many international directors such as Claude Chabrol, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Verhoeven, Miloš Forman, Marco Bellocchio, Glauber Rocha, Raul Ruiz, Alain Tanner, Mike Leigh, Béla Tarr, Chen Kaige, Edward Yang, Alexandr Sokurov, Atom Egoyan, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Gregg Araki, Catherine Breillat, Abbas Kiarostami, Gus Van Sant, Pedro Costa, Fatih Akin, Claire Denis and Kim Ki-Duk.

Awards

Competitive Awards

Concorso internazionale (international competition) Awards

Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Filmmakers of the Present) Awards

Pardo per la Migliore Opera prima

Pardo per la Migliore Opera prima (Leopard for the Best First Feature), Prize on the City and Region of Locarno, that is shared equally between the director and the producer, for the best first film screened in the Concorso internazionale, the Concorso Cineasti del presente and the Piazza Grande section

Pardi di domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) Awards

*Action Light Prize for Best Swiss Newcomer: provides equipment offered by Action Light,[3] Avant-première SA/ Film Demnächst AG, SDS AG, Swiss Effects AG, EgliFilm AG, Titra Film SA, Taurus Studio, TranspaLux (Suisse) SA.

Special Awards

Pardo d'onore Swisscom

For some 20 years now, the Pardo d'onore (Leopard of Honour, since 2009 Pardo d'onore Swisscom) has provided an opportunity to commend illustrious film directors, who embody the very idea of cinema which the Festival has supported so passionately since its inception: the best of auteur films, creative and audacious, with a strong vision and a personal style, endlessly reinventing itself. Locarno is proud to number amongst recipients of the Pardo d‘onore such master filmmakers as Jacques Rivette, Manoel de Oliveira, Samuel Fuller, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jean-Luc Godard, Daniel Schmid, Ken Loach, Ermanno Olmi, Terry Gilliam, Abbas Kiarostami, Wim Wenders, Aleksandr Sokurov, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Amos Gitai, William Friedkin, Alain Tanner, Jia Zhangke, Werner Herzog and, in 2014, to Agnès Varda. In 2015 the Prize was awarded to Michael Cimino and Marco Bellocchio, winner of the Vela d'argento in 1965.

Excellence Award Moët & Chandon

Every year the Exellence Award Moët & Chandon, sponsored by Moët et Chandon,celebrates one or more internationally acclaimed actors or actresses, who, through their work and talent, have enriched the cinema with their unique contribution. Since 2004, the Locarno Festival has been honoured to thus pay tribute to Oleg Menchikov, Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Carmen Maura, Michel Piccoli, Toni Servillo, Chiara Mastroianni, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Gael García Bernal, Victoria Abril and Sir Christopher Lee. In 2014 the prize was awarded to Juliette Binoche and Giancarlo Giannini.

The Best Independent Producer Award – Raimondo Rezzonico Prize

Wishing to highlight key figures in film and salute their courage and their ability to take a risk supporting auteurs, the Locarno Festival has already paid tribute with this award to the work of such renowned producers as Paulo Branco, Ruth Waldburger, Karl Baumgartner, Jeremy Thomas, the French collective Agat Films & Cie, Lita Stantic, Christine Vachon, Martine Marignac, Menahem Golan Mike Medavoy, Margaret Ménégoz, and, in 2014, Nansun Shi. The Best Independent Producer Award - Premio Raimondo Rezzonico was established in 2002 in memory of Raimondo Rezzonico, president of the event for almost twenty years. The Prize is offered by the City of Minusio.

Vision Award - Nescens

The Vision Award Nescens highlights and pays tribute to creative figures from the movie industry, whose work behind the scenes has helped cinema open up to new perspectives. In 2013, the prize was given to Douglas Trumbull, master of the special effects. In 2014, the Festival awarded the Oscar prize-winner Garrett Brown, creator of the Steadicam. In 2015, Walter Murch, the triple-Oscar-winning editor and sound designer, will be the recipient of the Vision Award - Nascens at the 68th Festival del film di Locarno.

Lifetime Achievement Award - Parmigiani

The prize, supported by Parmigiani, from 2011 to 2014 awarded film personalities with an extraordinary career. For three years it was presented to film legends such as Harrison Ford (2011), Alain Delon (2012) and Jacqueline Bisset (2013). In 2014 the Prize was awarded to Armin Mueller-Stahl.

Prix du Public UBS

The official jury is not the only one to hand out prizes at the Festival. Every night, the audience in Piazza Grande is on jury service, voting to decide the winner of the "Prix du public UBS". Previous winners of the "Prix du Public UBS" have included films such as Bend it like Beckham, The Syrian Bride, The Lives of Others, Monsieur Lazhar, Lore, Gabrielle and Schweizer Helden in 2014.

Variety Piazza Grande Award

The Variety Piazza Grande Award is awarded by a jury of several of the American trade paper's critics who attend Locarno. It goes to a film screened in the Piazza Grande programme as a world or international première. The prize recognises a film that stands out for both its artistic qualities and its potential for theatrical release. The award is intended to assist the international career of the selected film, thanks to Variety's connections with the film industry and its authority within the sector.

Leopard Club Award

Named after the supporting Association of the Festival, the Leopard Club Award pays tribute to someone in film whose work has left a mark on the collective imagination. In 2013, the first Leopard Club Award was given to Faye Dunaway. In 2014, it was awarded to the American actress Mia Farrow.

Direction and Management

Artistic Directors:

Presidents:

chief operating officer:

Posters

The official poster of the Festival:

Gallery

Some images of the Festival del film Locarno.

References

  1. ↑ "FIAPF Accredited Festivals Directory PDF 2011-2012" (PDF). fiapf.org.
  2. ↑ "From the outset to the '60s". Pardo.ch.
  3. ↑ "Official page of Action Light Prize". Prixactionlight.blogspot.com. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Press Release : Carlo Chatrian, new Artistic Director. 4/09/2012". Pardo.ch.
  5. ↑ "Artistic Director: Carlo Chatrian". Pardo.ch.
  6. ↑ "President: Marco Solari". Pardo.ch.
  7. ↑ "Chief Operating Officer: Mario Timbal". Pardo.ch.

See also

External links

Coordinates: 46°10′11″N 8°47′46″E / 46.169623°N 8.796011°E / 46.169623; 8.796011

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