Locarno Film Festival 2023 Awards

Locarno Film Festival 2023 Awards

Concorso internazionale

Pardo d’oro, Grand Prize of the Festival of the City of Locarno to the best film

MANTAGHEYE BOHRANI (CRITICAL ZONE) by Ali Ahmadzadeh, Iran/Germany

Ahmadzadeh was not in attendance to receive the award as he is currently banned from leaving his native Iran. Last month, the country’s authorities summoned Ahmadzadeh to the Ministry of Security, where he was pressured to pull Critical Zone from Locarno’s official competition. Ahmadzadeh is officially banned from working as a filmmaker in Iran.

The film, described as “a hymn to freedom and resistance in Iran”, was shot without permission from authorities before recent protests started. The plot follows a man who drives through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs and healing troubled souls.

Special Jury Prize of the Cities of Ascona and Losone

NU ASTEPTA PREA MULT DE LA SFÂRITSUL LUMII (DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD) by Radu Jude, Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia

Pardo for Best Direction of the City and Region of Locarno Maryna Vroda for

STEPNE, Ukraine/Germany/Poland/Slovakia

Pardo for Best Performance Dimitra Vlagopoulou for

ANIMAL by Sofia Exarchou, Greece/Austria/Romania/Cyprus/Bulgaria

Pardo for Best Performance Renée Soutendijk for

SWEET DREAMS by Ena Sendijarevi?, Netherlands/Sweden/Indonesia/Reunion

Special Mention

NUIT OBSCURE – AU REVOIR ICI, N’IMPORTE OÙ by Sylvain George, France/Switzerland

Concorso Cineasti del presente

Pardo d’oro Concorso Cineasti del presente to the best film
HAO JIU BU JIAN (DREAMING & DYING) by Nelson Yeo, Singapore/Indonesia

Best Emerging Director Award of the City and Region of Locarno
Katharina Huber for
EIN SCHÖNER ORT, Germany

Special Jury Prize
CINÉ+ CAMPING DU LAC by Éléonore Saintagnan, Belgium/France

Pardo for Best Performance Clara Schwinning for
EIN SCHÖNER ORT by Katharina Huber, Germany

Pardo for Best Performance Isold Halldórudóttir and Stavros Zafeiris for
TOUCHED by Claudia Rorarius, Germany

Special Mentions

EKSKURZIJA (EXCURSION) by Una Gunjak, Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia/France/Norway/Qatar

NEGU HURBILAK by Colectivo Negu, Spain

First Feature

Swatch First Feature Award
HAO JIU BU JIAN (DREAMING & DYING) by Nelson Yeo, Singapore/Indonesia

Pardi di domani

Concorso Corti d’autore

Pardino d’oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film
THE PASSING by Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan, USA

Special Mention and Short Film candidate of the Locarno Film Festival for the European Film Awards
BEEN THERE by Corina Schwingruber Ili?, Switzerland

Concorso internazionale

Pardino d’oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film EN UNDERSØGELSE AF EMPATI (A STUDY OF EMPATHY) by Hilke Rönnfeldt, Denmark/Germany

Pardino d’argento SRG SSR for the International Competition
DU BIST SO WUNDERBAR by Leandro Goddinho, Paulo Menezes, Germany/Brazil

Pardi di domani Best Direction Award –
BONALUMI Engineering
Eric K. Boulianne for
FAIRE UN ENFANT, Canada

Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
NEGAHBAN (THE GUARD) by Amirhossein Shojaei, Iran

Special Mention
THE LOVERS by Carolina Sandvik, Sweden

Concorso nazionale

Pardino d’oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film LETZTE NACHT by Lea Bloch, Switzerland

Pardino d’argento Swiss Life for the National Competition NIGHT SHIFT by Kayije Kagame, Hugo Radi, Switzerland

Best Swiss Newcomer Award
LETZTE NACHT by Lea Bloch, Switzerland
Pardo Verde Ricola

Pardo Verde Ricola

?UVARI FORMULE (GUARDIANS OF THE FORMULA) by Dragan Bjelogrli?, Serbia/Slovenia/Montenegro/ North Macedonia

Special Mentions
PROCIDA, film made by the participants of Procida Film Atelier, Italy

VALLEY PRIDE by Lukas Marxt, Austria/Germany