First reports show the 62nd Festival continues to be a major attraction, despite the global economic downturnThe 62nd Locarno International Film Festival drew to a close on Saturday 15 August with a surprise concert in the Piazza Grande given by Mongolian singer Urna, following the world premiere of the film The Two Horses of Genghis Khan by Byambasuren Davaa. At the final awards ceremony a few hours earlier, the Golden Leopard went to filmmaker and writer Xiaolu GUO (UK/Germany/France) for She...

Once again this year the Locarno International Film Festival is delighted to offer the public a free screening on the Piazza Grande on the eve of the Opening Night, on Tuesday, August 4th, 9:30 pm – thanks to the support of CSS Assurance.Marching Band (France/USA), a documentary co-directed by Claude Miller (Betty Fischer et autres histoires, L’Effrontée), Héléna Cotinier and Pierre-Nicolas Durand, will be presented as an international première with the film delegation in attendance.The ...

Piazza Grande Opening Film The American romantic comedy, Marc Webb’s 500 Days of Summer, will open the 62nd edition of the Locarno Film Festival on Wednesday August 5th, 2009 on the Piazza Grande. This first film, presented as a European première, starring Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man, The Happening) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, Mysterious Skin) is distributed by Twentieth Century Fox and will be released in Europe in the Fall.The 62nd edition of the Locarno Festival will take place from 5 to...

The jury for the Locarno Festival’s Open Doors co-production lab has selected 12 projects (out of 114 applications from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Island) to participate in the final phase of the 2009 session. This year the Open Doors Factory is devoted to Greater China, and will take place from 9 to 11 August 2009, during the 62nd edition of the Locarno International Film Festival.The selected projects are: ABERDEEN by PANG Ho-cheung – Hong KongAN EVERLASTING DAY by Wanmacaidan â€...

The 62nd Locarno International Film Festival is to welcome the well-known Italian theater actor and director Pippo Delbono, presenting his entire filmography. Among the latter will be a number of works never before screened and his latest full-length feature, La Paura, co-produced by Forum des Images (Paris), just completed and filmed entirely on a mobile phone. Pippo Delbono was born in Varazze, not far from the city of Savona on the Italian Riviera, in 1959. In 1987, after some years working ...

At the 62nd edition of the Locarno International Film Festival the Raimondo Rezzonico Prize 2009 for Best Independent Producer will be presented to French producer Martine Marignac. A graduate in philosophy and film aesthetics, Martine Marignac began her career as a press officer for Simon Mizrahi, with whom she worked for seven years. She has mixed with then New Wave directors such as Godard, Truffaut and Rohmer, as well as Italian filmmakers Comencini, Risi, Scola, Bellocchio and Ferreri. Mart...

The official juries for the next Locarno International Film Festival are already shaping up, with several personalities having already confirmed their participation.The jury for the International Competition will include filmmaker HONG Sangsoo (Woman Is the Future of Man, Tale of Cinema), a leading talent in contemporary Korean cinema, whose latest film will screen in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes; French screenwriter and filmmaker Pascal Bonitzer, who has enjoyed long term collaborations...

Research & Choices: Festival Selection and Programming Throughout its 62 year history, the Locarno International Film Festival has occupied a unique position in the landscape of the major film festivals. Every August, around 180,000 cinema-goers, 1,100 journalists, and 3,400 professionals converge on the small Swiss-Italian town of Locarno, right in the heart of Europe, which becomes the world capital of auteur cinema for eleven days. During the day, a demanding selection of fe...

Research & Choices: Festival Selection and Programming Throughout its 62 year history, the Locarno International Film Festival has occupied a unique position in the landscape of the major film festivals. Every August, around 180,000 cinema-goers, 1,100 journalists, and 3,400 professionals converge on the small Swiss-Italian town of Locarno, right in the heart of Europe, which becomes the world capital of auteur cinema for eleven days. During the day, a demanding selection of fearlessly radical f...

Filmfestivals.com and Film Festival Locarno in partnership with CFC Media Lab, Telefilm Canada are proud to present Future of Cinema Salon Series at the Film Festival Locarno which took place August 9 with The Premiere Panel on digital distribution in association with XDC and Cineuropa.org featuring Elisabetta Brunella (Mediasalles Secretary Gene...

Filmfestivals.com and Film Festival Locarno in partnership with CFC Media Lab, Telefilm Canada are proud to present Future of Cinema Salon Series at the Film Festival Locarno (August 9 from 11.00 to 12.30 at the Forum) Do not miss The Premiere Panel on digital distribution in association with XDC and Cineuropa.org featuring Elisabetta Brunella (Me...

The closing ceremony for the 61st edition of the Locarno International Film Festival took place on Saturday August 16 on the Piazza Grande. The Golden Leopard was awarded to Parque via by Enrique Rivero (Mexico). This first feature is also the first Mexican film to win the Locarno Golden Leopard ever.Initial statistics on the 61st edition confirm the Festival's vitality and appeal to the public, the professionals and the press. The figures are inevitably affected however by the changeable weathe...

The closing ceremony of the 61st Locarno International Film Festival took place on Saturday, August 16th 2008 at the Piazza Grande. The announcement of the Official Awards 2008 was followed by the screening of BACK SOON, a French / Islandic comedy by Solveig Anspach, as a World Premiere. Golden Leopard PARQUE VIA by Enrique Rivero, Mexico Special Jury Prize  33 SCENY Z ZYCIA (33 Scenes from Life) by Malgoska Szumowska, Germany/Poland Best Director for ELLE VEUT LE CHAOS, ...

The closing ceremony of the 61st Locarno International Film Festival took place on Saturday, August 16th 2008 at the Piazza Grande. The announcement of the Official Awards 2008 was followed by the screening of BACK SOON, a French / Islandic comedy by Solveig Anspach, as a World Premiere. Golden Leopard PARQUE VIA by Enrique Rivero, MexicoSpecial Jury Prize  33 SCENY Z ZYCIA (33 Scenes from Life) by Malgoska Szumowska, Germany/Poland Best Director for ELLE VEUT LE CHAOS, Canada Leopard for Best ...

The closing ceremony for the 61st edition of the Locarno International Film Festival took place on Saturday August 16 on the Piazza Grande. The Golden Leopard was awarded to Parque via by Enrique Rivero (Mexico). This first feature is also the first Mexican film to win the Locarno Golden Leopard ever.Initial statistics on the 61st edition confirm the Festival’s vitality and appeal to the public, the professionals and the press. The figures are inevitably affected however by the changeable weat...

The closing ceremony of the 61st Locarno International Film Festival took place on Saturday, August 16th 2008 at the Piazza Grande. The announcement of the Official Awards 2008 was followed by the screening of BACK SOON, a French / Islandic comedy by Solveig Anspach, as a World Premiere. Golden Leopard PARQUE VIA by Enrique Rivero, MexicoSpecial Jury Prize 33 SCENY Z ZYCIA (33 Scenes from Life) by Malgoska Szumowska, Germany/Poland Best Director for ELLE VEUT LE CHAOS, Canada Leopard for Best A...