Locarno Film Festival

Overview

The Locarno Film Festival is a FIAPF-accredited A-list competitive festival held annually in August in Locarno, a Italian-speaking Swiss town on the shores of Lake Maggiore. The 79th edition runs August 5 to 15, 2026. The festival programs approximately 224 films across 11 sections and has built its identity around formally adventurous, artistically ambitious cinema rather than the commercial programming balance found at Cannes or Venice.

The festival's signature venue is the Piazza Grande, an open-air screening space in the town center that seats up to 8,000 viewers on one of the largest outdoor screens in Europe. Films selected for the Piazza Grande play before a massive audience in a setting that no other A-list festival can replicate. The Prix du Public UBS (audience award) is voted by Piazza Grande attendees.

Locarno's top prize, the Pardo d'Oro (Golden Leopard), carries a cash award of CHF 75,000 shared equally between the director and the producer. The 78th edition in 2025 awarded the Pardo d'Oro to Tabi to Hibi (Two Seasons, Two Strangers) by Japanese director Sho Miyake, beating 17 other films in the international competition. The festival presented 101 world premieres across its 2025 edition.

For filmmakers working in art cinema, formal experimentation, or first and second features, Locarno is one of the most important launchpads in the world. Submit via the official submission portal.

Submission Fees and Deadlines (2026 Edition)

Submissions are entered online at locarnofestival.ch/form. A screener link must be included with the submission form. DCP screenings of feature films are only accepted under exceptional circumstances and incur an additional CHF 200 fee on top of the entry fee.

All fees are tax-inclusive. The entry fee payment and the submission form must be completed before the chosen deadline. Incomplete or misleading entries will not be considered. Fees are non-refundable even if the film is deemed ineligible. Full rules and regulations are available at locarnofestival.ch/extra/rules-regulations.html.

Key Sections

• Concorso internazionale (International Competition) - the main competition for the Pardo d'Oro, typically 14 to 18 feature films
• Concorso Cineasti del presente (Filmmakers of the Present) - a competition for first and second features, with its own Pardo d'Oro
• Piazza Grande - large-scale open-air screenings for a broad audience, eligible for the Prix du Public UBS
• Fuori concorso (Out of Competition) - gala screenings and special events outside the competition
• Pardi di domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) - short and medium-length film competitions (up to 59 minutes) divided into Concorso Nazionale (Swiss), Concorso Internazionale (international), and Concorso Corti d'Autore (established directors)
• Open Doors - co-production and development platform for filmmakers from focus regions
• Retrospective - curated historical programs and tributes
• Locarno Pro - industry days with market screenings, co-production meetings, and professional programming

What Filmmakers Should Know

Locarno values formal innovation, artistic risk, and distinctive directorial voices. Films that might be considered too experimental for Cannes or too obscure for Toronto can find their ideal home at Locarno. The Concorso Cineasti del presente is specifically designed for first and second features, making it a direct entry point for debut filmmakers.

The Piazza Grande screenings offer a unique opportunity. Films selected for the Piazza play before thousands of viewers in an open-air setting, and the audience response in this environment can generate immediate industry attention. The Piazza program balances art house work with more accessible titles. In 2025, the Lucy Liu-starring Rosemead won the Prix du Public UBS after its international premiere on the Piazza Grande.

The Open Doors program is in the second year of a four-year cycle (2025 to 2028) focused on 42 countries on the African continent. Open Doors selects six feature film projects in development for its co-production platform, six producers for its career-building Producers program, and five directors for its Directors program. Participants receive training, mentoring, and networking opportunities with European co-producers and sales agents during Locarno Pro (August 5 to 10, 2026). The program is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Filmmakers from the 42 eligible African countries should consult the Open Doors page for application details.

For international filmmakers, Locarno's industry side (Locarno Pro) runs August 7 to 12 and includes the Match Me! co-production meeting platform, the StepIn think tank, and the Locarno Film Academy. The festival does not require a world premiere for all sections, but premiere status affects selection priority.

Major Awards

International Competition:

• Pardo d'Oro (Golden Leopard) - CHF 75,000, shared equally between director and producer
• Special Jury Prize - CHF 30,000, shared equally between director and producer (Cities of Ascona and Losone)
• Pardo for Best Direction - CHF 20,000 to the director (City and Region of Locarno)
• Pardo for Best Performance - two prizes awarded, gender-neutral
• Special Mentions - at the jury's discretion

Filmmakers of the Present:

• Pardo d'Oro for Filmmakers of the Present - top prize for the emerging directors competition

Piazza Grande:

• Prix du Public UBS - audience-voted award for the best Piazza Grande screening

Pardi di domani:

• Junior Jury Awards - CHF 1,500 each for best short films in Concorso Internazionale, Concorso Nazionale, and Concorso Corti d'Autore
• "The environment is quality of life" Prize - CHF 2,000 for a short film in the Open Doors Screenings section

Festival History

Locarno was founded in 1946, the same year as Cannes. The festival gave early platforms to filmmakers including Stanley Kubrick and Alain Resnais, and later to directors from Iran, Southeast Asia, and Latin America whose work had not yet been recognized by larger festivals. Japanese directors have won the Pardo d'Oro four times in the festival's history: Teinosuke Kinugasa for Gate of Hell (1954), Akio Jissoji for This Transient Life (1970), Masahiro Kobayashi for The Rebirth (2007), and Sho Miyake for Tabi to Hibi (2025).

The Open Doors program has run for over 20 years, previously focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean (2022 to 2024) before shifting to Africa (2025 to 2028). The program has become one of the most important platforms for connecting emerging filmmakers from the Global South with European industry partners.

Past Winners (Golden Leopard / Pardo d'Oro)

Recent Golden Leopard winners and where the films landed after Locarno:

• 2025: Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Tabi to Hibi), dir. Sho Miyake. A Japanese drama about two strangers whose lives intersect across seasons.

• 2024: Toxic (Akiplasa), dir. Saule Bliuvaite. A Lithuanian drama about teenage girls in a toxic ballet academy. Won the Golden Leopard and became a festival circuit standout.

Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up

Locarno has launched many significant auteur films. Selected premieres and their distribution outcomes:

• A Land Imagined (2018) - Won the Golden Leopard. Visit Films handled world sales. Epicentre Films released in France. Singapore's entry to the Academy Awards. Now available on Netflix globally. Won Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Music Score at the 56th Golden Horse Awards.
• Right Now, Wrong Then (2015) - Won the Golden Leopard. Finecut handled international sales. Distributed in Austria, Brazil, France, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Screened at TIFF and NYFF. Established Hong Sang-soo's international reputation.
• Safe Place (2022) - World premiere in Concorso Cineasti del Presente. Won Best Emerging Director, Best Actor, and the Swatch First Feature Award. Cercamon handled world sales. Also won Best Film at Sarajevo. Croatia's candidate for Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards. Distributed in 7 territories.
• Blue Heron (2025) - World premiere in Concorso Cineasti del Presente. Won the Swatch First Feature Award and Junior Jury Award. Janus Films acquired US distribution with a theatrical release in April 2026. Sold to Spain, Benelux, Turkey, and France.
• Lagaan (2001) - Won the UBS Audience Award on Piazza Grande. Sony Pictures Classics acquired US distribution. India's official entry for the foreign-language Oscar. A major international success and the first Indian blockbuster to screen at Piazza Grande.
• Journey of Hope (1990) - Won the Bronze Leopard. Columbus Films handled international distribution. Won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1991, one of the most successful Locarno alumni films.

Submission Tips Specific to Locarno

1. World or international premieres are essential. Locarno is primarily a showcase for brand-new films. Films should have been completed within the previous 12 months and retain world or international premiere status. World premieres are favored for competitive sections. If your film premieres elsewhere before Locarno, inform programming immediately.
2. Match your film to the right section. Concorso Internazionale is for established auteurs and major contemporary cinema (60-plus minutes, world or international premieres). Concorso Cineasti del Presente is specifically for first or second feature films seeking radical, uncompromising, adventurous work. Piazza Grande is for mainstream-audience works, genre films, and documentaries by established filmmakers with broad appeal. Open Doors focuses on under-represented regions (2025 to 2028 covers 42 African countries).
3. Embrace formal and thematic boldness. Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro programs for algorithm-free experiences that surprise audiences and disrupt expectations. Locarno values films that take viewers out of conventional viewing choices. The festival has a history of awarding formally ambitious, politically engaged work.
4. Genre and hybrid forms are welcome. Unlike some festivals that maintain strict boundaries between high art and genre, Locarno embraces genre cinema and hybrid forms. Nazzaro has long championed genre filmmaking. All genres are eligible: fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, and hybrid works.
5. Leverage Locarno as a testing ground. The Piazza Grande (8,000-plus capacity outdoor screen) is an ideal testing ground for how films connect with large European audiences. Nazzaro notes that if a studio wants to evaluate how a film can work, Locarno is the right place. Industry delegates closely watch Locarno competition titles for festival circuit potential.

Industry Reputation Notes

• Premier auteur festival for discovery and cinephilia. Locarno is widely regarded as one of the world's premier destinations for auteur cinema and discovery. Nazzaro describes it as creating algorithm-free experiences where audiences can experience wonder and surprise. The festival's DNA is about discovering new filmmakers, new talents, and new possibilities for cinema. It is smaller than Toronto or Venice but better for launching certain kinds of films, particularly formally adventurous work that might get lost at larger festivals.
• Strong for European arthouse sales and co-production. Locarno has evolved into a significant platform for arthouse sales and international co-production. Industry attendance at Locarno Pro reached record highs (1,530 delegates in 2023). The festival's industry initiatives (Open Doors, Match Me!, A4Development) specifically target international co-production opportunities. Sales agents note that Locarno competition titles often have strong festival legs.
• Comparison to Rotterdam and Venice. Both Rotterdam and Locarno share a commitment to experimental and under-represented voices. Rotterdam's CineMart is the original co-production market targeting projects outside the mainstream. Locarno similarly focuses on discovery but with a stronger emphasis on auteur cinema and a more prestigious competitive section (Golden Leopard). Venice is a larger, glossier platform with more star power and industry dealmaking, while Locarno is praised as a place where more traditionally difficult fare gets the chance to stand tall.
• Unique Piazza Grande open-air experience. Locarno's Piazza Grande, one of the world's largest outdoor screens with 8,000-plus seats, is a signature programming element that distinguishes it from other festivals. This open-air venue under the stars creates a unique communal viewing experience. Industry professionals use Piazza Grande screenings to test how films connect with large European audiences.

See Also

For festival strategy and circuit planning, see Film Festival Strategy. For international co-production opportunities, see International Film Markets. To calculate the return on investment of your festival submission spending, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator.