69th Locarno Film Festival
The 69th Locarno Film Festival was held 3 to 13 August 2016 in Locarno, Switzerland. Carlo Chatrian was the festival's Artistic Director.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Godless, directed by Ralitza Petrova.
The primary Selection Committee included Mark Peranson, Lorenzo Esposito, Sergio Fant, and Aurélie Godet. The Leopards of Tomorrow section was programmed by Alessandro Marcionni, Gonzalo De Pedro Amatria, Liz Harkman, and Bruno Quiblier. The Retrospective program was curated by Olaf Möller and Roberto Turigliatto.
Official Section
''Piazza Grande''
The following films were selected for the Piazza Grande section:International Competition (''Concorso internazionale'')
The following films were selected for the Concorso internazionale section:Filmmakers of the Present (''Concorso Cineasti del presente'')
Filmmakers of the Present is the festival's competition for first or second feature films.| English title | Original title | Director | Production country |
| Afterlov | Stergios Paschos | Greece | |
| Withered Green | Akhdar yabes | Mohammed Hammad | Egypt |
| Destruction Babies | Disutorakushon beibîzu | Tetsuya Mariko | Japan |
| Donald Cried | Kris Avedisian | United States | |
| The Human Surge | El auge del humano | Eduardo Williams | Argentina, Brazil, Portugal |
| The Future Perfect | El futuro perfecto | Nele Wohlatz | Argentina |
| Still Life | Gorge coeur ventre | Maud Alpi | France |
| I Had Nowhere to Go | Douglas Gordon | Germany | |
| The Nest | Il nido | Klaudia Reynicke | Switzerland, Italy |
| Solo, Solitude | Istirahatlah kata-kata | Yosep Anggi Noen | Indonesia |
| Daydreams | L'indomptée | Caroline Deruas | France |
| This Time Tomorrow | Mañana a esta hora | Lina Rodríguez | Colombia, Canada |
| Pescatori di corpi | Michele Pennetta | Switzerland | |
| The Challenge | Yuri Ancarani | Italy, France, Switzerland | |
| Dark Skull | Viejo Calavera | Kiro Russo | Bolivia, Qatar |
Leopards of Tomorrow (''Pardi di domani'')
Leopards of Tomorrow is the festival's competitive program for short films, with separate international and Swiss sections.Retrospective (''Retrospettiva'')
The 2016 retrospective section, Beloved and Rejected: Cinema in the young Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963, was centered around filmmaking in early West Germany.| English title | Original title | Director | Production country | Year |
| An Alibi for Death | Ein Alibi zerbricht | Alfred Vohrer | Austria | 1963 |
| All Clues Lead to Berlin | Die Spur führt nach Berlin | František Čáp | West Germany | 1952 |
| Alvorada - Brazil's Changing Face | Alvorada - Aufbruch in Brasilien | Hugo Niebeling | West Germany | 1962 |
| Autobahn | Herbert Vesely | West Germany | 1957 | |
| Banktresor 713 | Werner Klingler | West Germany | 1957 | |
| Bau 60 | Dieter Lemmel | West Germany | 1960 | |
| Black Gravel | Schwarzer Kies | Helmut Käutner | West Germany | 1961 |
| By the Dike Sluice | Am Siel | West Germany | 1962 | |
| The Captain from Cologne | Der Hauptmann von Köln | Slatan Dudow | East Germany | 1956 |
| Chased by the Devil | Vom Teufel gejagt | Victor Tourjansky | West Germany | 1950 |
| The Condemned Village | Das verurteilte Dorf | Martin Hellberg | East Germany | 1952 |
| The Confession of Ina Kahr | Das Bekenntnis der Ina Kahr | G. W. Pabst | West Germany | 1954 |
| The Cornet | Der Cornet. Die Weise von Liebe und Tod | Walter Reisch | West Germany | 1955 |
| The Day the Rains Came | Am Tag als der Regen kam | Gerd Oswald | West Germany | 1959 |
| Den Einsamen allen | Franz Schömbs | West Germany | 1962 | |
| The Devil Strikes at Night | Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam | Robert Siodmak | West Germany | 1957 |
| The Doctor of Stalingrad | Der Arzt von Stalingrad | Géza von Radványi | West Germany | 1958 |
| The Dress | Das Kleid | Konrad Petzold | East Germany | 1961/1991 |
| Durch Nacht zum Licht | Hans Fischerkoesen | West Germany | 1955 | |
| The Eighth Day of the Week | Ósmy dzień tygodnia | Aleksander Ford | Polish People's Republic, West Germany | 1958 |
| Encounters In The Dark | Spotkania w mroku | Wanda Jakubowska | Polish People's Republic, East Germany | 1960 |
| Es muss ein Stück vom Hitler sein | Walter Krüttner | West Germany | 1963 | |
| Ein Fabeltier fliegt nach Deutschland | Michael Grzimek, Bernhard Grzimek | West Germany | 1954 | |
| Faces in the Shadow | Ansikten i skugga | Peter Weiss, Christer Strömholm | Sweden | 1956 |
| The Fair | Kirmes | Wolfgang Staudte | West Germany | 1960 |
| Faust | Peter Gorski | West Germany | 1960 | |
| Fussball Weltmeisterschaft 1954 | Gerhard Grindel, Horst Wigankow, Sammy Drechsel | West Germany | 1954 | |
| The Glass Tower | Der gläserne Turm | Harald Braun | West Germany | 1957 |
| The Haunted Castle | Das Spukschloss im Spessart | Kurt Hoffmann | West Germany | 1960 |
| Holiday on Sylt | Urlaub auf Sylt | Annelie Thorndike, Andrew Thorndike | East Germany | 1957 |
| The Indian Tomb | Das indische Grabmal | Fritz Lang | West Germany, France, Italy | 1959 |
| It Happened in Broad Daylight | Es geschah am hellichten Tag | Ladislao Vajda | Switzerland, West Germany | 1958 |
| Jonas | Ottomar Domnick | West Germany | 1957 | |
| Jungens in den Flegeljahren | Rudolf Werner Kipp | West Germany | 1956 | |
| Kahl | Haro Senft | West Germany | 1961 | |
| Kommunikation - Technik der Verständigung | Edgar Reitz | West Germany | 1962 | |
| Labyrinth | Rolf Thiele | West Germany | 1959 | |
| Last Stop Love | Endstation Liebe | Georg Tressler | West Germany | 1958 |
| Leuchtfeuer | Wolfgang Staudte | East Germany, Sweden | 1954 | |
| Look at This City | Schaut auf diese Stadt | Karl Gass | East Germany | 1962 |
| The Lost One | Der Verlorene | Peter Lorre | West Germany | 1951 |
| Machorka-Muff | Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet | West Germany | 1963 | |
| Mädchen in Uniform | Géza von Radványi | West Germany, France | 1958 | |
| Das magische Band | Ferdinand Khittl | West Germany | 1959 | |
| Many Passed By | Viele kamen vorbei | Peter Pewas | West Germany | 1956 |
| Menschen im Werk | Gerhard Lamprecht | West Germany | 1957 | |
| The Miracle of Father Malachia | Das Wunder des Malachias | Bernhard Wicki | West Germany | 1961 |
| Mother Courage and Her Children | Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder | Manfred Wekwerth, Peter Palitzsch | East Germany | 1961 |
| Neue Kunst - neues Sehen | Ottomar Domnick | West Germany | 1950 | |
| No Way Back | Weg ohne Umkehr | Victor Vicas | West Germany | 1953 |
| People in the Net | Menschen im Netz | Franz Peter Wirth | West Germany | 1959 |
| Die Purpurlinie | Flo Nordhoff | West Germany | 1959 | |
| Puschkin – Wodka für harte Männer. Elch | Charles Paul Wilp | West Germany | 1962 | |
| Redhead | Die Rote | Helmut Käutner | West Germany, Italy | 1962 |
| The Return of Doctor Mabuse | Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse | Harald Reinl | West Germany, France, Italy | 1961 |
| Roses Bloom on the Moorland | Rosen blühen auf dem Heidegrab | Hans H. König | West Germany | 1952 |
| Schichten unter der Dunstglocke | Herbert Viktor | West Germany | 1959 | |
| Sky Without Stars | Himmel ohne Sterne | Helmut Käutner | West Germany | 1955 |
| Speed | Geschwindigkeit | Edgar Reitz | West Germany | 1963 |
| Spielbank-Affäre | Arthur Pohl | East Germany | 1957 | |
| Das Stacheltier: Freie Marktwirtschaft | Richard Groschopp | East Germany | 1954 | |
| Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? | Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben | Frank Wisbar | West Germany | 1959 |
| Süden im Schatten | Franz-Josef Spieker | West Germany | 1962 | |
| The Tiger of Eschnapur | Der Tiger von Eschnapur | Fritz Lang | West Germany, France, Italy | 1959 |
| The Trapp Family in America | Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika | Wolfgang Liebeneiner | West Germany | 1958 |
| Traum in Tusche | Rolf Engler | West Germany | 1952 | |
| Das Unkraut | Wolfgang Urchs | West Germany | 1962 | |
| Verstummte Stimmen | Roger Fritz | West Germany | 1962 | |
| Ein Wagen und sein Werk | Curt A. Engel | West Germany | 1953 | |
| Weißes Blut | Gottfried Kolditz | East Germany | 1959 | |
| Werftarbeiter | Wolf Hart | West Germany | 1951 | |
| Der Wundertisch | Herbert Seggelke | West Germany | 1954 | |
| You Must Choose Life | Wähle das Leben | Erwin Leiser | Switzerland, Sweden, Austria | 1963 |
Open Doors
Beginning in 2016, the Open Doors screening and development section initiated a three-year focus on eight South Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Jury films
The festival presents films associated with jurors for the various competitive sections.| English title | Original title | Director | Production country | Year |
| Bleak Street | La calle de la amargura | Arturo Ripstein | Mexico, Spain | 2015 |
| You and the Night | Les rencontres d'après minuit | Yann Gonzalez | France, Switzerland | 2013 |
| Soy Nero | Rafi Pitts | Germany, France, Mexico | 2016 | |
| Frances Ha | Noah Baumbach | United States | 2012 | |
| Ta’ang | Wang Bing | Hong Kong, France | 2016 | |
| Suspiria | Dario Argento | Italy | 1977 | |
| The Lobster | Yorgos Lanthimos | Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, France | 2015 | |
| Struggle for Life | La loi de la jungle | Antonin Peretjako | France | 2016 |
| Köpek | Esen Isik | Switzerland | 2015 | |
| Eyes Find Eyes | Sean Price Williams, Jean-Manuel Fernandez | France, United States | 2011 | |
| Speed | Geschwindigkeit | Edgar Reitz | West Germany | 1963 |
| Kommunikation - Technik der Verständigung | Edgar Reitz | West Germany | 1962 | |
| La herida | Fernando Franco | Spain | 2013 | |
| Boxcar Bertha | Martin Scorsese | United States | 1972 | |
| Wolf and Sheep | Shahrbanoo Sadat | Denmark, France, Sweden, Afghanistan | 2016 | |
| Battle of the Queens | Kampf der Königinnen | Nicolas Steiner | Germany, Switzerland | 2011 |
Official Awards
International Competition (Concorso Internazionale)
- Pardo d’oro: GODLESS by Ralitza Petrova, Bulgaria/Denmark/France
- Premio speciale della giuria : INIMI CICATRIZATE by Radu Jude, Romania/Germany
- Pardo per la miglior regia : JOÃO PEDRO RODRIGUESforO ORNITÓLOGO, Portugal/France/Brazil
- Pardo per la miglior interpretazione femminile : IRENA IVANOVAforGODLESSby Ralitza Petrova, Bulgaria/Denmark/France
- Pardo per la miglior interpretazione maschile : ANDRZEJ SEWERYNforOSTATNIA RODZINA by Jan P. Matuszyński, Poland
- Special Mention: MISTER UNIVERSOby Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel, Austria/Italy
Filmmakers of the Present Competition (Concorso Cineasti del presente)
- Pardo d’oro Cineasti del presente – Premio Nescens: EL AUGE DEL HUMANO by Eduardo Williams, Argentina/Brazil/Portugal
- Premio speciale della giuria Ciné+ Cineasti del presente : THE CHALLENGEby Yuri Ancarani, Italy/France/Switzerland
- Premio per il miglior regista emergente : MARIKO TETSUYA for DESTRUCTION BABIES, Japan
- Special Mention: VIEJO CALAVERA by Kiro Russo, Bolivia/Qatar
First Feature
- Swatch First Feature Award : EL FUTURO PERFECTOby Nele Wohlatz, Argentina
- Swatch Art Peace Hotel Award: MAUD ALPI for GORGE CŒUR VENTRE, France
- Special Mention: EL AUGE DEL HUMANO by Eduardo Williams, Argentina/Brazil/Portugal
Leopard of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani)
- Concorso internazionale:
- Pardino d’oro per il miglior cortometraggio internazionale – Premio SRG SSR: L’IMMENSE RETOUR by Manon Coubia, Belgium/France
- Pardino d’argento SRG SSR per il Concorso internazionale: CILAOSby Camilo Restrepo, France
- Locarno Nomination for the European Film Awards – Premio Pianifica: L’IMMENSE RETOUR by Manon Coubia, Belgium/France
- Premio Film und Video Untertitelung: VALPARAISO by Carlo Sironi, Italy
- Special Mention: NON CASTUS by Andrea Castillo, Chile
- Concorso nazionale: Concorso nazionale
- Pardino d’oro per il miglior cortometraggio svizzero – Premio Swiss Life: DIE BRÜCKE ÜBER DEN FLUSSby Jadwiga Kowalska, Switzerland
- Pardino d’argento Swiss Life per il Concorso nazionale: GENESIS by Lucien Monot, Switzerland
- Best Swiss Newcomer Award: LA SÈVE by Manon Goupil, Switzerland