50th Locarno Film Festival

The 50th Locarno Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 August 1997 in Locarno, Switzerland. The opening film of the festival was the international premiere of Men In Black. The closing film of the festival was Last Tango in Paris in honor of its director Bernardo Bertolucci who was awarded the Leopard of Honor for his career in cinema at the festival this year.

The Piazza Grande, the open-air theater, saw the international premiere of Face/Off directed by John Woo with a record crowd of 10,000 people. Another audience hit was the British stripper comedy The Full Monty, which drew a large crowd and won the Audience Award.

In honor of the 50th Anniversary, the festival held a retrospective called "50 (+1) Years of American Cinema", which featured films from the first year of the festival, 1946, to the present 1997. The section was selected by 30 American directors tasked with choosing "underrated" films. Some directors who selected films include Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, and Kathryn Bigelow, who was in town for the festival.

The festival also managed to feature the first version of Palme d'Or winner Taste of Cherry which was shot on video in 1994 with director Abbas Kirostami as the lead, before he made the final 1997 version. Plus, the world premiere of experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas's entire Diaries series, which utilized 60 hours of footage shot over 50 years.

Due to the rule changes last year, over half the films in competition were from established directors, and not first or second feature films as was traditionally the case at Locarno. The new Venice Film Festival chief, Felice Laudadio, and Locarno Festival chief Marco Mueller normalized relations after a 1995 fight between the festivals and helped each other acquire films, with Mueller helping Venice get Zhang Yimou's Keep Cool.

The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to The Mirror directed by Jafar Panahi.

Official Jury Marco Bellocchio, Italian director, Jury Head Maria de Medeiros, Portuguese actress Claire Denis, French director Fernando Solanas, Argentinean director Nan Goldin, American photographer Geraldine Chaplin, British actress Richard Dindo, German director Katrin Cartlidge, British Actress David Strieff, former Locarno Festival chief and artistic director Zhang Yimou, Chinese director Manfred Eicher, German music producer Freddy Buache, Swiss Cinematheque head, and film historian

Official Sections

The following films were screened in these sections:

Piazza Grande

The following films were screened on the Piazza Grande: English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production Country Destiny Al Massir Youssef Chahine 1997 France, EgyptCareer Girls Mike Leigh 1996 Great Britain Known to Our Departments Connu De Nos Services Jean-Stéphane Bron 1997 SwitzerlandConspiracy Theory Richard Donner 1997 USAFace/Off John Woo 1997 USA The Prince of Homburg Il Principe Di Homburg Di Heinrich Von Kleist Marco Bellocchio 1997 Italia The Joly-Normandin Fund Le Fonds Joly-Normandin F.J. Ossang 1896 SwitzerlandMen in Black Barry Sonnenfeld 1997 USAThe Full Monty Peter Cattaneo 1996 USAThe Ice Storm Ang Lee 1997 USAThe Sweet Hereafter Atom Egoyan 1997 Canada Last Tango in Paris Ultimo Tango A Parigi Bernardo Bertolucci 1972 Italia, FranceThe Eel Unagi Shōhei Imamura 1997 Japan

International Competition Highlighted title indicates Golden Leopard winner: English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production Country The Mirror Ayneh Jafar Panahi 1997 IranBroos Mijke de Jong 1997 Netherlands Clandestins Denis Chouinard, Nicolas Wadimoff 1997 Switzerland, Canada Doctor Chance Docteur Chance F.J. Ossang 1997 France, Chile Metropolitan Fairy Tales Fiabe Metropolitane Egidio Eronico 1997 ItaliaThe Crazy Stranger Gadjo Dilo Tony Gatlif 1997 France The Ark of the Desert L'Arche Du Desert Mohamed Chouikh 1997 Algérie, France The Third Moon La Terza Luna Matteo Bellinelli 1997 Switzerland, Italia The Acrobats Le Acrobate Silvio Soldini 1997 Italia, Switzerland The Infidels Les Infidèles Randa Chahal Sabag 1997 France Martha's Garden Marthas Garten Peter Liechti 1997 Switzerland, Germany The Bachelor O Ergenis Nikos Panayotopoulos 1997 GreeceOffice Killer Cindy Sherman 1997 USAThe Bible And Gun Club Daniel J. Harris 1997 USATopless Women Talk About Their Lives Harry Sinclair 1997 New Zealand Transatlantic Transatlantique Christine Laurent 1997 France We All Fall Down Tutti Giù Per Terra Davide Ferrario 1996 Italia Winter Sleepers Winterschläfer Tom Tykwer 1997 Germany, France Made in Hong Kong Xianggang Zhizao Fruit Chan 1997 Hong Kong Journey to the Western Xia Empire Xixia Lu Tiaotiao Lu Wei 1997 China

Filmmakers of the Present The following films were screened in the Filmmakers of the Present Competition is also known as the Concorso Cineasti del Presente.

Filmmakers of the Present - Out of Competition Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country A Flor Encarnada To Incarnate Flower Marcel Hanoun 1994 France Ardekoul Jafar Panahi 1997 Iran Award Presentation To Andy Warhol Jonas Mekas 1994 USA Birth Of A Nation Jonas Mekas 1996 USA Bruggen Bridging Dick Rijneke 1996 Netherlands Bruit D'Amour Et De Guerre Noise of Love and War Marcel Hanoun 1997 France Cela S'Appelle L'Amour It's Called Love Marcel Hanoun 1984 France Char Adhyay Four Chapters Kumar Shahani 1997 India Chère Catherine Dear Catherine Raoul Peck 1997 Haiti Cosa Centra Con L'Amore What Does it Have to Do with Love Marco Speroni 1997 Italia D'Ici Là By then Jean-Charles Fitoussi 1997 France Die Kinder Von Furna The Children of Furna Christian Schocher 1975 Switzerland En Une Poignee De Mains Amies, Fleuve Qui, Par Dessous Les Ponts, Ouvre La Porte De La Mer In a Handful of Friendly Hands, River Which, Below the Bridges, Opens the Door of the Sea Jean Rouch 1997 France Familles Je Vous Hais Families I Hate you Bruno Bontzolakis 1997 France Fantômes De Tanger Ghosts of Tangier Edgardo Cozarisnky 1997 France, Germany Fast, Cheap & Out Of Control Errol Morris 1997 USA Georges Bataille - À Perte De Vue Georges Bataille - As Far as the Eye can See André S. Labarthe 1997 France Happy Birthday To John Lennon Jonas Mekas 1996 USA He Stands In The Desert Counting The Seconds Of His Life Jonas Mekas 1975 USA Hello- Les Larmes De L'Amitie Hello- Friendly Tears Michel Sumpf 1997 France Hispaniola Ritratto Di Claudiio Bonifacio, Naufrologo Hispaniola Portrait by Claudiio Bonifacio, a Naughter Antonietta De Lillo 1997 Italia Il Etait Une Fois Donyazad He Was Once Donyazad Merzak Allouache 1996 France Il Manocchio The Manocchio Davide Ciprì, Franco Maresco 1996 Italia Jahre Später Years Later Christian Schocher 1997 Switzerland Je Meurs De Vivre I Die of Living Marcel Hanoun 1994 France L'Appartamento The Apartment Francesca Pirani 1997 Italia La Boulangère Et Le Cosmonaute The Baker and the Cosmonaut Marcel Hanoun 1997 France La Vallee Close Jean-Claude Rousseau 1995 France La Via Del Petrolio The via Del Oil Bernardo Bertolucci 1966 Italia Le Chant Des Chants The Song of the Songs Marcel Hanoun 1996 France Le Plaisir House of Pleasure Max Ophüls 1951 France Le Regard Blesse The Gaze Hurts Marcel Hanoun 1994 France Left Aside Tom Jarmush 1997 USA Les Amants De Sarajevo Marcel Hanoun 1993 France Lost Lost Lost Jonas Mekas 1949 USA Luca'S Film Marco Bechis 1996 Italia Mat' I Syn Alexander Sokurov 1997 Germany, Russia Nel Profondo Paese Straniero In the Deep Foreign Country Fabio Carpi Carpi 1997 Italia, France Nocturne Yervant Granikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi 1997 Italia Nous Sommes Tous Encore Ici We are all Again Here Anne-Marie Miéville 1996 France, Switzerland Ormai Solo Un Zio Ci Può Salvare By Now Only an Uncle can Save Us Davide Ciprì, Franco Maresco 1986 Italia Otage Hostage Marcel Hanoun 1989 France Parresia Rosanna Benvenuto 1997 Italia Partner Bernardo Bertolucci 1968 Italia Pish Batter Nasser Taghvai 1997 Iran Public Housing Frederick Wiseman 1997 USA Regard La Mer Look the Sea François Ozon 1997 France Regard, Passion, Memoire Look, Passion, Memory Marcel Hanoun 1992 France Reminiscences Of A Journey To Lituania Jonas Mekas 1971 USA Rostov-Luanda Rostov-Lunda Abderrahmane Sissako 1997 France Ruzi Keh Khaleh Mariz Boud Hannah Makhmalbaf 1997 Iran Scenes From Allen'S Last 3 Days On Earth As A Spirit Jonas Mekas 1997 USA Scenes From The Life Of Andy Warhol Jonas Mekas 1990 USA Scenes From The Life Of George Maciunas Jonas Mekas 1990 USA Sogni Infranti: Ragionamenti E Deliri Broken Dreams: Reasoning and Delusions Marco Bellocchio 1995 Italia Stilleben Still Life Harun Farocki 1997 France, Germany Tarh Wee Abbas Kiarostami 1997 Iran Tentative De Description D'Un Dîner De Têtes À Paris-France Attempt to Describe a Head Dinner in Paris-France Jean-Christophe Averty 1995 France The Final Insult Charles Burnett 1997 Germany, USA Torino Boys Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti 1997 Italia Un Arbre Fou D'Oiseaux A Crazy Bird of Birds Marcel Hanoun 1997 France Viagem Ao Principio Do Mundo Travel to the Beginning of the World Manoel de Oliveira 1997 France, Portugal Visage Marcel Hanoun 1997 France Von Heute Auf Morgen Overnight Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub 1996 France Walden Jonas Mekas 1964 USA Walo Fendo Walo Crack Mohammed Soudani 1997 Switzerland Locarno at Half Century, Reflections on the Future – Filmmakers of the Present Locarno at the Half-Century, Reflections on the Future – Filmmakers of the PresentOriginal titleEnglish titleDirector(s)YearProduction country Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: Elena Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: Elena Marco Bellocchio 1997 Switzerland Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: Ghosts Of Electricity Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: Ghosts of Electricity Robert Kramer 1997 Switzerland Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: La Eta Knabino Au Kiel Oni Trovas Ian Helpon Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: ETA Knabino at Kiel Oni Trovas Ian Helpon Hannah Makhmalbaf 1997 Switzerland Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: Le Film À Venir Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: The Film to Come Nasser Taghvai 1997 Switzerland Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: Le Jour Où Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: The Day when Chantal Akerman 1997 Switzerland Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: Les Parias Du Cinema Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: The Parias of the Cinema Idrissa Ouédraogo 1997 Switzerland Locarno Demi-Siècle, Reflexions Sur L'Avenir: Épisode: The Birth Of Light Locarno Half-Century, Reflections on the Future: Episode: The Birth of Light Abbas Kiarostami 1997 Switzerland

Leopards of Tomorrow The following films were screened in the Leopards of Tomorrow sections:

Short Films in Competition