Locarno76

Since its inception in 1946, Locarno has hosted the most daring, avant-garde and irreverent forms of cinema in their uncut and uncensored versions. Nestled in the mountains of beautiful Lake Maggiore, the Swiss-Italian town dons the festival’s colors—black and leopard yellow—each year for an 11-day celebration of cinema. The event offers more than 300 screenings, lectures, events, conferences, concerts, art exhibitions and parties, all within walking distance of each other.

From August 2–12, the love of cinema will light up Locarno, transforming it into the capital of the seventh art. The 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival promises to be bold and open to contamination, thanks to a program that puts cinema in dialogue with its history, its future and other artistic and communicative forms.

The 2023 selection
The Piazza Grande will welcome personalities such as Sandra Hüller (Anatomie d’une chute), Ken Loach (The Old Oak), Deva Cassel, daughter of Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel, in her big screen debut (La bella estate), Edoardo Leo (Non sono quello che sono—The tragedy of Othello by W. Shakespeare), the cult film Theater Camp from Sundance and Cate Blanchett as executive producer of the film Shayda by Noora Niasari, starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi.

Directors such as Quentin Dupieux, Lav Diaz, Radu Jude, Sylvain George and Eduardo Williams will be competing for the Pardo d’oro in a competition that covers all the colors of cinema, from comedy to documentary. Switzerland will be represented by Basil Da Cunha, one of the most original voices leading the renewal of Swiss cinema.

The Fuori concorso, on the other hand, is dedicated to the great masters: from Paul Vecchiali –whose film will be presented posthumously—to Barbet Schroeder, Franco Maresco, Leonardo Di Costanzo and Denis Coté.

This and much more for a unique cinematic experience.

Learn more at locarnofestival.ch.