59th Locarno Film Festival


The 59th Locarno Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 August 2006 in Locarno, Switzerland. The festival featured 172 films in total, with twenty one films in competition from seventeen different countries. The opening film was the European premiere of Miami Vice directed by Michael Mann. The closing film was the European premiere of Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The festival also held a retrospective of the work of Finnish director Aki Kaursimaki.
The Leopard of Honor was awarded to director Alexsander Sokurov for his career in cinema. William Dafoe attended the festival to receive the excellence award.
This was the first year with Frederic Marie as the new artistic director. On the last day Marie passed out while introducing the Little Miss Sunshine screening and ended the festival in the hospital, reportedly due to exhaustion. There was also a problem with jury when, on the final day, one juror, Barbara Albert, revealed they were a co-writer of a film in competition, Das ''Fräulein, which went on to win the Golden Leopard. Albert resigned from the jury and didn't take part in the vote.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Das Fräulein'' directed by Andrea Staka.

Official Jury

There was a five-person jury who voted on the films in competition. There was originally seven on the jury, but two people resigned.

Sections

The following films were screened in these sections:

International Competition

Highlighted title indicates Golden Leopard winner

Filmmakers of the Present

The Concorso Cineasti del Presente, also known as the Filmmakers of the Present Competition, showcases first and second feature films from emerging filmmakers.
Filmmakers of the Present - In Competition
Highlighted title indicates Filmmakers of the Present winner
'Filmmakers of the Present - Out of Competition'''''

Open Doors

'Open Doors - South East Asia'''''

Leopards of Tomorrow

Leopards of Tomorrow

Leopard of Honor

Independent Sections

Critics Week

The Semaine de la Critique is an independent section, created in 1990
by the Swiss Association of Film Journalists in partnership with the
Locarno Film Festival.

Official Awards

International Competition

  • Golden Leopard: Das Fräulein directed by Andrea Štaka
  • Special Jury Prize: Half Nelson directed by Ryan Fleck
  • Leopard for Best Actress: Amber Tamblyn in Stephanie Daley
  • Leopard for Best Actor: Burghart Klaussner in Der Mann Von Der Botschaft
  • Best Direction Prize: Laurent Achard for LE DERNIER DES FOUS
  • Special Mention, Film and Video Subtitling Prize, Gerhard Lehmann AG: Defteri Fisi directed by Vardis Marinakis

Jury Filmmakers of the Present Competition

  • Golden Leopard Filmmakers of the Present C.P. Company: Verfolgt directed by Angelina Maccarone
  • CinéCinéma Special Jury Prize, Filmmakers of the Present Competition: Chand Kilo Khorma Baraye Marassem-E Tadfin directed by Saman Salour
  • Filmmakers of the Present Competition – Special Mention: Tarachime directed by Naomi Kawase

Jury Leopards of Tomorrow

  • Golden Leopard, SRG SSR idée Suisse, Swiss Competition: Nachtflattern directed by Carmen Stalder
  • Silver Leopard, Eastman Kodak Company Prize, Swiss Competition: Aschenbrüder directed by Steve Walker and Markus Heiniger
  • "Action Light" Prize for the Best Newcomer – Swiss Competition: La ''Vérité Vraie directed by Tania Zambrano Ovalle
  • Golden Leopard, SRG SSR idée Suisse, East of the Mediterranean: Bubachki directed by Igor Ivanov
  • Silver Leopard, Kodak Leopards of Tomorrow Prize: West Bank Story directed by Ari Sandel
  • Film and Video Subtitling Prize, Gerhard Lehmann AG: Bir Damla Su directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven
  • Special Mention, Leopards of Tomorrow, Swiss Competition: Nouvel Ordre'' directed by Ausonio De Sousa, Grégory Bindschedler and Jean-Daniel Schneider

"Cinema e Gioventù" – Leopards of Tomorrow Jury

  • Youth Jury Prize, Leopards of Tomorrow-: Aschenbrüder directed by Steve Walker and Markus Heiniger
  • Special Mention, Youth Jury, Short Films: Ram Za Sliku Moje Domovine directed by Elmir Jukić

Jury for the Best first feature

  • Leopard for Best First Feature: L'Année Suivante directed by Isabelle Czajka
  • Special Mention for Best First Feature: So Lange Du Hier Bist directed by Stefan Westerwelle

Piazza Grande

Youth Jury

  • First Prize, Youth Jury: Das Fräulein directed by Andrea Štaka
  • Second Prize, Youth Jury Prize: Chahar Shanbeh Souri directed by Asghar Farhadi
  • "The environnement is the quality of life" Prize: Agua directed by Verónica Chen
  • Special Mention, Youth Jury Prize: Half Nelson directed by Ryan Fleck, Mnogotochie directed by Andrei A. Eshpal

Ecumenical Jury

FIPRESCI Jury

  • FIPRESCI Prize: Nae-Chungchun-Aegae-Goham directed by Young-Nam Kim

Jury CICAE – Prix Art & Essai

  • Special Mention, CICAE Prize: Mnogotochie directed by Andrei A. Eshpai, Das ''Fräulein directed by Andrea Štaka
  • CICAE Prix Art & Essai: Jimmy Della Collina'' directed by Enrico Pau

NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury

  • NETPAC Prize: Nae-Chungchun-Aegae-Goham directed by Young-Nam Kim, Fu Sheng directed by Zhimin Sheng

FICC Jury

SRG SSR idée suisse | Semaine de la critique Prize

  • SRG SSR idée Suisse Prize/Critics Week: Zeit Des Abschieds directed by Mehdi Sahebi
  • Special Mention, Critic Week Jury: Az ÈLet Vendége directed by Tibor Szemzö
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