72nd Locarno Film Festival
The 72nd annual Locarno Festival was held from 7 August to 17 August 2019. The debut feature by Italian director-producer Ginevra Elkann's Magari opened the festival, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's To the Ends of the Earth was screened as closing film.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Vitalina Varela directed by Pedro Costa.
Juries
International Competition
- Catherine Breillat, French filmmaker, novelist and professor - Jury President
- Ilse Hughan, Dutch producer
- Emiliano Morreale, Italian film critic
- Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Argentinian actor
- Angela Schanelec, German filmmaker
Filmmakers of the Present
- Jake Perlin, American producer - Jury President
- Shengze Zhu, Chinese filmmaker and producer
- Yolande Zauberman, French filmmaker
Leopards of Tomorrow
- Bi Gan, Chinese filmmaker - Jury President
- Alice Diop, French filmmaker
- Mike Plante, American short films programmer at Sundance Film Festival
Moving Ahead
- Michael Boyce Gillespie, American film theorist and historian - Jury President
- Aline Schmid, Swiss producer
- Eduardo Williams, Argentinian filmmaker
Best First Feature Prizes
- Margherita Chiti, Italian distributor - Jury President
- Frédéric Jaeger, German artistic director of Berlin Critics’ Week
- Jacqueline Lyanga, American festival director
Official Awards
The following awards were presented for films shown In Competition:International Competition
- Golden Leopard: Vitalina Varela by Pedro Costa
- Special Jury Prize: Height of the Wave by Park Jung-bum
- Best Direction Award: Damien Manivel for Isadora's Children
- Best Actor Award: Regis Myrupu for The Fever
- Best Actress Award: Vitalina Varela for Vitalina Varela
- Special Mentions:
- * The Science of Fictions by Yosep Anggi Noen
- * Maternal by Maura Delpero
- Swatch First Feature Awards: Nafi's Father by Mamadou Dia
Filmmakers of the Present
- Golden Leopard - Filmmakers of the Present: Nafi's Father by Mamadou Dia
- Best Emerging Director: Hassen Ferhani for 143 sahara street
- Special Jury Prize: Ivana the Terrible by Ivana Mladenović
- Special Mention: Here for Life by Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Adrian Jackson
Moving Ahead
- Moving Ahead Award: The Giverny Document by Ja'Tovia M. Gary
- Special Mentions:
- * Those That, at a Distance, Resemble Another by Jessica Sarah Rinland
- * Osmosis by Zhou Tao
Leopards of Tomorrow
- Pardino d'oro for the Best International Short Film – SRG SSR Prize: Black Sun by Arda Çiltepe
- Pardino d'oro for the Best Swiss Short Film – Swiss Life Prize: Mama Rosa by Dejan Barac
- Pardino d'argento SSR SRG for the international competition: Umbilical by Danski Tang
- Pardino d'argento Swiss Life for the national competition: Silent Storm by Anaïs Moog
- Pardi di domani Best Direction Prize: Anton Sazonov for ''Leave of Absence''