The 2024 film festival summer closed out with the prizing at the Locarno Film Festival and it’s the debut feature of a Lithuanian filmmaker who claimed to highest prize in the Golden Leopard aka the Pardo d’Oro. Our Nicholas Bell admired the “distinctive choices” made in Saulė Bliuvaitė‘s Akiplėša (Toxic) – “elevating this beyond both miserabilism or sentimental absolution, meandering like its subjects toward some ill-formed ideas about how to escape an environment they did not choose and will certainly not uplift them.” Read the full ★★★ review here. The film also landed the Swatch First Feature Award. Also at the top, Austrian filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub’s Mond (read the ★★★ review) won the Special Jury Prize, while the Pardo for Best Direction went to Laurynas Bareiša for Drowning Dry (read the ★★★ review) — the film also won for Best Performance (essentially ensemble). Here are the winners:
Concorso Internazionale
Pardo d’Oro – Grand Prize of the Festival and City of Locarno
AKIPLĖŠA (TOXIC) by Saulė Bliuvaitė, Lithuania
Special Jury Prize – Cities of Ascona and Losone
MOND by Kurdwin Ayub, Austria
Pardo for Best Direction – City and Region of Locarno
to Laurynas Bareiša for SESES (DROWNING DRY), Lithuania/Latvia
Pardo for Best Performance
to Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela, Paulius Markevičius for SESES (DROWNING DRY) by Laurynas Bareiša, Lithuania/Latvia
Pardo for Best Performance
to Kim Minhee for SUYOOCHEON (BY THE STREAM) by Hong Sangsoo, South Korea
Special Mentions
QING CHUN (KU) (YOUTH (HARD TIMES)) by WANG Bing, France/Luxembourg/Netherlands
SALVE MARIA by Mar Coll, Spain
Concorso Cineasti del Presente
Pardo d’Oro – Concorso Cineasti del Presente
HOLY ELECTRICITY by Tato Kotetishvili, Georgia/Netherlands
Best Emerging Director Award – City and Region of Locarno
to Denise Fernandes for HANAMI, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde
Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
KOUTÉ VWA (LISTEN TO THE VOICES) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste, Belgium/France/French Guiana
Pardo for Best Performance
to Callie Hernandez for INVENTION by Courtney Stephens, USA
Pardo for Best Performance
to Anna Mészöly for FEKETE PONT (LESSON LEARNED) by Bálint Szimler, Hungary
Special Mentions
FEKETE PONT (LESSON LEARNED) by Bálint Szimler, Hungary
KADA JE ZAZVONIO TELEFON (WHEN THE PHONE RANG) by Iva Radivojević, Serbia/USA
Pardi di Domani
Concorso Corti d’Autore
Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film
UPSHOT by Maha Haj, Palestine/Italy/France
Special Mention GWE-IN ESI JEONGCHE (THE MASKED MONSTER) by Syeyoung Park, South Korea
Locarno Film Festival Short Film Candidate – European Film Awards LA FILLE QUI EXPLOSE by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, France
Concorso Internazionale
Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film
WASHHH by Mickey Lai, Malaysia/Ireland
Pardino d’Argento SRG SSR for the International Competition GIMN CHUME (HYMN OF THE PLAGUE) by Ataka51, Germany/Russia
Pardi di Domani Best Direction Award – BONALUMI Engineering
QUE TE VAYA BONITO, RICO by Joel Alfonso Vargas, United Kingdom/USA
Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
THE FORM by Melika Pazouki, Iran
Special Mention FREAK by Claire Barnett, USA
Concorso Nazionale
Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film
SANS VOIX by Samuel Patthey, Switzerland
Pardino d’Argento Swiss Life for the National Competition BETTER NOT KILL THE GROOVE by Jonathan Leggett, Switzerland
Best Swiss Newcomer Award to Gabriel Grosclaude for LUX CARNE, Switzerland
Special Mention PROGRESS MINING by Gabriel Böhmer, United Kingdom/Switzerland
First Feature
Swatch First Feature Award
AKIPLĖŠA (TOXIC) by Saulė Bliuvaitė, Lithuania
MUBI Award – Debut Feature
GREEN LINE by Sylvie Ballyot, France/Lebanon/Qatar
Special Mentions
HANAMI by Denise Fernandes, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde
KOUTÉ VWA (LISTEN TO THE VOICES) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste, Belgium/France/French Guiana
Pardo Verde
supported by the Ente Regionale per lo Sviluppo del Locarnese e Vallemaggia
Pardo Verde
AGORA by Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia/France/Saudi Arabia/Qatar
Special Mentions
DER FLECK by Willy Hans, Germany/Switzerland
REVOLVING ROUNDS by Johann Lurf and Christina Jauernik, Austria
XXXXXX Festival: NEWS GOES HERE: Follow IONCINEMA.com for in-depth updates on all the major film festivals and film lab/fund news!
