37th Locarno Film Festival
The 37th Locarno Film Festival was held from 10 to 19 August 1984 in Locarno, Switzerland. For the first time in the history of the festival, the President of the Swiss Confederation, leader of Switzerland, attended the festival. Other notable attendees included writer Patricia Highsmith, actor John Hurt and ambassadors from Italy and India. This was considered the highest attended Locarno festival to date, with an unofficial estimate of 50,000 attendees. This was great news to organizers who had scheduled the festival a week later than usual to avoid competition from the television broadcast of the Olympics.
The Grande Piazza open-air theater was upgraded with a Dolby audio system and the opening film was Broadway Danny Rose. The closing film was the 1954 A Star Is Born directed by George Cukor.
The festival did not have a week dedicated to a Nation's cinema this year as the spot was filled by the reissue of Hitchcock films and the "Silesian Tetralogy" from Kazimierz Kutz with the final film having its world premiere on the Grande Piazza screen at Locarno.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Stranger Than Paradise directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Official Sections
The following films were screened in these sections:Parallel Sections
The following films were screened in these sections:Official Awards
International Jury
- Golden Leopard: STRANGER THAN PARADISE directed by Jim Jarmusch
- Silver Leopard: LE ROI DE LA CHINE directed by Fabrice Cazeneuve
- Bronze Leopard: DONAUWALZER directed by Xaver Schwarzenberger, NUNCA FAMOS TÅO FELIZES directed by Murillo Salles, ALMANAC OF FALL directed by Béla Tarr
- Special Mention, Official Jury: CAMPO EUROPA directed by Patrice Cologne