77th Locarno Film Festival
The 77th Locarno Film Festival was held from 7 August to 17 August 2024. The Crowd by King Vidor, accompanied by live music from the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, screened the night before the festival began, and The Flood by Gianluca Jodice opened the festival.
Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner served as the jury president for the main competition. Additional jury members were announced in July 2024.
Lithuanian film Toxic, directed by Saulė Bliuvaitė, was the winner of the Golden Leopard, the festival's main prize. Kurdwin Ayub's Moon was the winner of the Special Jury Prize. Kim Min-hee was awarded the Best Performance prize for her role in ''By the Stream.''
Juries
''Concorso Internazionale'' - Main Competition
- Jessica Hausner, Austrian filmmaker – Jury President
- Diana Elbaum, Belgian film producer
- Payal Kapadia, Indian filmmaker
- Luca Marinelli, Italian actor
- Tim Blake Nelson, American filmmaker
''Concorso Cineasti del Presente'' - Filmmakers of the Present Competition
- C.J. Obasi, Nigerian filmmaker
- Lina Soualem, French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker
- Charles Tesson, French film critic
''Pardi di Domani'' - Short Film Competition
- Licia Eminenti, Italian filmmaker and film programmer
- Laza Razanajatovo, Malagasy filmmaker and film curator
- Juliette Schrameck, French film producer
First Feature Competition
- Khalil Benkirane, Moroccan filmmaker
- Alma Pöysti, Finnish actress
- Esmé Sciaroni, Swiss-Italian makeup designer
''Pardo Verde'' Competition
- Kantarama Gahigiri, Swiss-Rwandan artist and filmmaker
- Cédric Succivalli, French film programmer and critic
- Daniel Wiener, Swiss sustainability adviser, journalist, and arts manager
Independent Juries
Ecumenical Jury
- Douglas P. Fahleson, Ireland
- Dirk von Jutrczenka
- María Teresa Téramo
- Anita Uzulniece
Premio FIPRESCI - FIPRESCI Award
- Johannes Hagman
- Antonis Lagarias
- Gerhard Midding
- Silvia Posavec
- Mariola Wiktor
Europa Cinemas Label
- Ramiro Ledo Cordeiro
- Camelia Popa
- Mila Schlingemann
- Marvin Wiechert
Grand Prix Semaine de la Critique – Prix SRG SSR 2024 - Critics' Week Grand Prize
- Madeleine Hirsiger
- Charles Martig
- Cristina Trezzini
Official sections
''Piazza Grande''
The following films were selected to be screened at the Piazza Grande, Locarno's open-air theater that accommodates a nightly audience of up to 8,000 people:Main Competition (''Concorso Internazionale'')
The Concorso Internazionale, the main section of the Locarno Film Festival, features new works in competition for the Golden Leopard.Out of Competition (''Fuori Concorso'')
The Fuori Concorso section highlights works that challenge the conventions of narrative filmmaking.Filmmakers of the Present Competition (''Concorso Cineasti del Presente'')
The Concorso Cineasti del Presente, also known as the Filmmakers of the Present Competition, showcases first and second feature films from emerging filmmakers.Leopard of Tomorrow (''Pardi di Domani'')
The Pardi di Domani section, also known as the Leopard of Tomorrow, features short and medium-length films.''Concorso Internazionale''
The Concorso Internazionale portion of the Pardi di Domani competition features short and medium-length films by emerging directors throughout the world.''Concorso Nazionale''
The Concorso Nazionale portion of the Pardi di Domani competition features short and medium-length films by emerging Swiss directors.| Original Title | Director | Production Country |
| Better Not Kill the Groove | Jonathan Leggett | Switzerland |
| Looking She Said I Forget | Naomi Pacifique | Switzerland, Netherlands |
| Lux Carne | Gabriel Grosclaude | Switzerland |
| Maman Danse | Mégane Brügger | Switzerland |
| Métropole | Theo Kunz | Switzerland |
| Progress Mining | Gabriel Böhmer | United Kingdom, Switzerland |
| Revier | Felix Scherrer | Switzerland |
| Sans Voix | Samuel Patthey | Switzerland |
| Sky Rogers: Manager de Stars | Ciel Sordeau | Switzerland |
| Tinderboys | Sarah Bucher, Carlos Tapia | Switzerland |
''Concorso Corti d'Autore''
The Concorso Corti d'Autore portion of the Pardi di Domani competition features short and medium-length films by established filmmakers.''Histoire(s) du Cinéma''
The festival's Histoire du Cinema section showcases films deemed significant to the evolution of cinema. Films by the festival's career award winners are presented in this section.Open Doors Screenings
The Open Doors section is presented in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Since 2022, the section has featured works from Latin America and the Caribbean. The 2024 Open Doors films are drawn from nations throughout this region of focus.''Retrospettiva''
The Lady With the Torch, a retrospective honoring the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures, will be presented in partnership with Cinémathèque suisse and Sony Pictures. Curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, co-director of Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, the retrospective will debut at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. An English-language companion book edited by Khoshbakht featuring writers from across the world was released in July 2024 by Les Éditions de l’Œil.Independent sections
International Critics' Week (''Semaine de la Critique'')
The Semaine de la Critique is an independent section of the festival organized by the Swiss Association of Film Journalists in which seven new documentary feature films are presented.''Panorama Suisse''
The independent Panorama Suisse section features highlights of contemporary Swiss cinema.Official awards
''Concorso Internazionale''
Golden Leopard: Toxic by Saulė BliuvaitėSpecial Jury Prize: Moon by Kurdwin AyubPardo for Best Direction: Drowning Dry by Laurynas BareišaPardo for Best Performance:- * Kim Min-hee for By the Stream
- * Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela, Paulius Markevičius for Drowning DrySpecial Mentions:
- * Youth (Hard Times) by Wang Bing
- * Salve Maria by Mar Coll
''Concorso Cineasti del Presente''
Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present: Holy Electricity by Tato KotetishviliBest Emerging Director Award: Hanami by Denise FernandesSpecial Jury Prize CINÉ+: Listen to the Voices by Maxime Jean-BaptistePardo for Best Performance:- * Callie Hernandez for Invention
- * Anna Mészöly for Lesson LearnedSpecial Mentions:
- * Lesson Learned by Bálint Szimler
- * When the Phone Rang by Iva Radivojević