Critical Zone (Mantagheye bohrani) by Ali Ahmadzadeh, a film secretly shot on the streets of Teheran, without permission from the Iranian authorities is the winner of the Pardo d’oro award at Locarno76 film festival. In the film Amir, guided by the voice of his GPS, navigates the underworld districts of Tehran to comfort the troubled souls of the night.

“Instead of actors, I worked with real people. In most situations, we had to hide the camera or find complicated tricks to work around the limitations. Making this film was a big rebellion. Showing it means an even bigger victory for us.” – director Ali Ahmadzadeh.

This year’s newly introduced gender-neutral acting awards went to four female actors and one male actor. In Concorso internazionale Dimitra Vlagopoulou won for Animal by Sofia Exarchou and Renée Soutendijk for Sweet Dreams by Ena Sendijarević. In Concorso Cineasti del presente Clara Schwinning won for Ein Schöner Ort by Katharina Huber and Isold Halldórudóttir and Stavros Zafeiris won for Touched by Claudia Rorarius.

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival – “This has been a thrilling edition, reasserting the centrality of the Locarno Film Festival and its ability to explore contemporary cinema in every shape and size, capturing the hearts and minds of our generous, curious and passionate public, who crowded into the Piazza Grande and theaters in great numbers. This was an excellent edition, with audiences up by 10% and a selection hailed enthusiastically by the media, cinephiles, and festivalgoers!”

The 77th Locarno Film Festival will take place from August 7 to 17, 2024.

Palmarès

Concorso internazionale

Pardo d’oro, Grand Prize of the Festival of the City of Locarno to the best film
MANTAGHEYE BOHRANI (CRITICAL ZONE) by Ali Ahmadzadeh, Iran/Germany

Special Jury Prize of the Cities of Ascona and Losone
NU AȘTEPTA PREA MULT DE LA SFÂRȘITUL LUMII (DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD) by Radu Jude, Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia

Pardo for Best Direction of the City and Region of Locarno
Maryna Vroda for STEPNE, Ukraine/Germany/Poland/Slovakia

Pardo for Best Performance
Dimitra Vlagopoulou for ANIMAL by Sofia Exarchou, Greece/Austria/Romania/Cyprus/Bulgaria

Pardo for Best Performance
Renée Soutendijk for SWEET DREAMS by Ena Sendijarević, Netherlands/Sweden/Indonesia/Reunion

Special Mention
NUIT OBSCURE – AU REVOIR ICI, N’IMPORTE OÙ by Sylvain George, France/Switzerland

Concorso Cineasti del presente

Pardo d’oro Concorso Cineasti del presente to the best film
HAO JIU BU JIAN (DREAMING & DYING) by Nelson Yeo, Singapore/Indonesia

Best Emerging Director Award of the City and Region of Locarno
Katharina Huber for EIN SCHÖNER ORT, Germany

Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
CAMPING DU LAC by Éléonore Saintagnan, Belgium/France

Pardo for Best Performance
Clara Schwinning for EIN SCHÖNER ORT by Katharina Huber, Germany

Pardo for Best Performance
Isold Halldórudóttir and Stavros Zafeiris for TOUCHED by Claudia Rorarius, Germany

Special Mentions
EKSKURZIJA (EXCURSION) by Una Gunjak, Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia/France/Norway/Qatar
NEGU HURBILAK by Colectivo Negu, Spain

First Feature

Swatch First Feature Award
HAO JIU BU JIAN (DREAMING & DYING) by Nelson Yeo, Singapore/Indonesia

Pardi di domani

Concorso Corti d’autore

Pardino d’oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film
THE PASSING by Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan, USA

Special Mention and Short Film candidate of the Locarno Film Festival for the European Film Awards
BEEN THERE by Corina Schwingruber Ilić, Switzerland

Concorso internazionale

Pardino d’oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film
EN UNDERSØGELSE AF EMPATI (A STUDY OF EMPATHY) by Hilke Rönnfeldt, Denmark/Germany

Pardino d’argento SRG SSR for the International Competition
DU BIST SO WUNDERBAR by Leandro Goddinho, Paulo Menezes, Germany/Brazil

Pardi di domani Best Direction Award – BONALUMI Engineering
Eric K. Boulianne for FAIRE UN ENFANT, Canada

Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
NEGAHBAN (THE GUARD) by Amirhossein Shojaei, Iran

Special Mention
THE LOVERS by Carolina Sandvik, Sweden

Concorso nazionale

Pardino d’oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film
LETZTE NACHT by Lea Bloch, Switzerland

Pardino d’argento Swiss Life for the National Competition
NIGHT SHIFT by Kayije Kagame, Hugo Radi, Switzerland

Best Swiss Newcomer Award
LETZTE NACHT by Lea Bloch, Switzerland

Pardo Verde Ricola

Pardo Verde Ricola
ČUVARI FORMULE (GUARDIANS OF THE FORMULA) by Dragan Bjelogrlić, Serbia/Slovenia/Montenegro/ North Macedonia

Special Mentions
PROCIDA, film made by the participants of Procida Film Atelier, Italy
VALLEY PRIDE by Lukas Marxt, Austria/Germany