Golden Leopard of Locarno To Leap For The 70th Time

Summer revives cinematography by popping up with a number of international film festivals all over the world. One of them is traditionally held in Locarno, in a Swiss valley by the Lago Maggiore with the one of the biggest open air screens in Europe at the Piazza Grande. This year on August 2-12 Locarno Film Festival celebrates its 70th anniversary and promises an exceptional programme, guest celebrities and top selection competition.

The Festival will comprise 12 sections, 3 competitions and 25 awards. The main - Concorso Internazionale (International competition) will present a stimulating panorama of contemporary auteur cinema, where young talent rubs shoulders with that of established directors. A jury of major figures in cinema will be charged with choosing one of the competing fiction or documentary features from all over the world, screened as world or international premieres, to win the prestigious Pardo d’oro (Golden Leopard).

The second competition - the Concorso Cineasti del presente is dedicated to emerging directors from all over the world and devoted to first and second features. Around fifteen feature films screening as world or international premieres, from documentary to fiction,will compete for the Pardo d’oro Cineasti del presente.

Dedicated to future talents the Pardi di domani section will screen short and medium-length films by young independent auteurs or film school students who have not yet tried their hand at feature films. The section has two separate competitions: one limited to recent Swiss productions, the other international, featuring films from all over the world.

And, of course, there will be a major entertainment for the public at the Piazza Grande with 8000 viewers a night. This magnificent and unique setting welcomes all the many and diverse festival audiences for a big cinematic event. The programming on the Piazza Grande offers prestigious screenings, most of them world, international or European premieres, introduced by the director and the cast. The audience also will serve as the biggest jury on the planet voting for the Audience Award (Prix du Public UBS).

We're definitely going, what about you?