The 52nd Locarno Film Festival was held from 4 to 14 August 1999 in Locarno, Switzerland. The opening film of the festival was East/West directed by Régis Wargnier. The closing film was the world premiere of the Giuseppe Tornatore's re-cut and trimmed down The Legend of 1900. A special section was dedicated to "Joe Dante and the 2nd Corman Generation". Most of the featured directors were on-hand and participated in Q&As throughout the festival. Roger Corman, himself, was pleasantly surprised at a diner in his honor saying, "Who'd ever imagine we'd all be admired like this" and that he'd "have to do a better job of preserving" the company film library.

The Leopard of Honor was awarded to three directors: Swiss director Daniel Schmid, Italian director Francesco Rosi, and French filmmaker Gerard Blain. Each director had a film at the festival. The Piazza Grande section featured Schmid's The Last Days of Switzerland and Rosi's 1961 restored mafia film Salvatore Giuliano. While, Blain's new film So be it (Ainsi soit-il) was screened out-of-competition. Unfortunately for the festival, rain caused many screening on the Piazza Grande, the 7,000-seat open-air theater, to be moved inside.

The festival also featured Asia Argento's directorial debt with Your Tongue on my Heart, a 4 minute short film and the gay feature-length comedy, shot without the approval of the Chinese government, Men and Women directed by Liu Bingjian. The audience award went to Himalaya by director Eric Valli.

French director Patrice Chereau resigned from the jury to promote his newest film. The anticipated film Soft Fruit directed by Christina Andreef was pulled from the festival at the last minute due to a legal issues with the distributor Fox, who was unhappy with the credit sequence and stopped the production of all prints.

This was long-time festival president Raimondo Rezzonico's last year at the festival, following the public disagreement with festival director Marco Mueller the year before.

The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Peau D’homme, Coeur De Bête (Skin of Man, Heart of Beast) directed by Hélène Angel, which was her first feature film.

Official Jury

Official International Jury Paul Bartel, American actor and director, Jury head Jakob Claussen, German producer Jean-Michel Frodon, French Film critic Amitav Ghosh, Indian novelist Lu Yue, Chinese cinematographer and director Kati Outinen, Finnish actress Giuseppe Piccioni, Italian director Beki Probst, the director of the Berlin Film Market

Resigned Patrice Chereau, Resigned from Jury, French filmmaker Official Sections

The following films were screened in these sections:

Piazza Grande

The Piazza Grande is the 7,000 seat open-air theater assembled in the town square each year. English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production Country Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland Beresina Oder Die Letzten Tage Der Schweiz Daniel Schmid 1999 Switzerland, GermanyBowfinger Frank Oz 1999 USA East/West Est-Ouest Régis Wargnier 1999 France Crazy English Fengkuang Yingyu Yuan Zhang 1999 China Himalaya Himalaya, L'Enfance D'Un Chef Éric Valli 1999 France Kikujiro Kikujiro No Natsu Takeshi Kitano 1999 Japan The Legend of 1900 La Leggenda Del Pianista Sull'Oceano Giuseppe Tornatore 1999 Italia, USA The Little Thief Le Petit Voleur Erick Zonca 1999 FrancePushing Tin Mike Newell 1999 USASalvatore Giuliano Francesco Rosi 1962 ItaliaThe Birds Alfred Hitchcock 1963 USA

International Competition

International Competition English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production Country1999 Madeleine Laurent Bouhnik 1999 France So Be It Ainsi Soit-Il Gérard Blain 1999 France Kisses and Hugs Baci E Abbracci Paolo Virzì 1999 ItaliaBarak Valerij Ogorodnikov 1999 Russia The Pig's Retribution Buta No Mukui Sai Yohichi 1999 Japan The Einstein of Sex Der Einstein Des Sex: Leben Und Werk Des Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Rosa von Praunheim 1999 Germany Two Streams Dois Córregos Carlos Reichenbach 1999 Brazil The City El Medina Yousry Nasrallah 1999 Egypt, France The Miracle of P. Tinto El Milagro De P. Tinto Javier Fesser 1998 Spain Fallen Angels Paradise Gannat Al Shayateen Oussama Fawzi 1999 EgyptMoonlight Whispers Gekkô No Sasayaki Akihiko Shiota 1999 Japan Big Feelings Grosse Gefühle Christof Schertenleib 1999 Switzerland, Luxembourg The Time of Love Il Tempo Dell Amore Giacomo Campiotti 1999 Italia, Great Britain Life Doesn’t Scare Me La Vie Ne Me Fait Pas Peur Noémie Lvovsky 1999 France, Switzerland Men and Women Nannan Nünü Liu Bingjian 1999 China Skin of Man, Heart of Beast Peau D'Homme, Coeur De Bête Hélène Angel 1999 France Before Sunset Prima Del Tramonto Stefano Incerti 1999 Italia Simon, the Magician Simon Mágus Ildikó Enyedi 1999 Hungary, FranceThe Dream Catcher Ed Radtke 1999 USAThe Uprising Yi Jae-Su Eï Nan Park Kwang-su 1999 South Korea, France The Third Page Üçüncü Sayfa Zeki Demirkubuz 1999 Türkiye

Filmmakers of the Present Filmmakers of the Present - Out of Competition Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Amber City Jem Cohen 1999 Italia, USA Au Champ D'Honneur Field of Honor Luc Moullet 1998 France Belfast, Maine Frederick Wiseman 1999 USA Chronique Vigneronne Chronicle Winegrower Jacqueline Veuve 1999 Switzerland Condo Painting John McNaughton1999 USA David Cronenberg, I Have To Make The Word Be Flesh André S. Labarthe 1999 France Delta Padano Florestano Vancini 1951 Italia Dokomademo Ikou Migration Everywhere 1999 Japan Due Come Noi, Non Dei Migliori Two Like Us, not the Best Stefano Grossi Italia Escalator Over The Hill Steve Gebhardt 1999 USA I Paisán - Parte Prima I Parentsán - PART Giuseppe Morandi Italia I Paisán - Parte Seconda The Paisáns - Friends Giuseppe Morandi Italia Jacques Doillon - Les Mots, L'Émotion... Jacques Doillon - Words, Emotion ... Anne Brochet, Françoise Dumas 1998 France Jam Session - Kikujiro No Natsu Koshiki Kaizokuban Im the Sound of the Touch - The Summer of the Giro Listening To, Pirated Version Makoto Shinozaki 1999 Japan Just In Time Lou Castel 1998 France Kadi Jolie Hard Idrissa Ouédraogo 1999 France, Burkina Faso Kto Bolche How Much to Say Vitali Kanevski 1999 France, Belgium La Salamandre The Salamander Alain Tanner 1971 Switzerland Le Dernier Plan The Last Plan Benoît Peeters 1999 Belgium Le Plat De Sardines The Sardine Dish Omar Amiralay 1998 France Les Étrangers Foreigners Philippe Faucon 1999 France Lopen To Walk Mijke de Jong 1999 Netherlands Noi E Il Duca - Quando Duke Ellington Suonò A Palermo We and the Duke - When Duke Ellington Played in Palermo Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco 1999 Italia Paris Mon Petit Corps Est Bien Las De Ce Grand Monde Paris My Little Body is Tired of this Great World Franssou Prenant 1999 France Philippe Garrel Françoise Etchegaray 1998 France Qui Sait? Who Knows? Nicolas Philibert 1998 France Rom Tour Giorgio Garini, Silvio Soldini 1999 Switzerland, Italia Santitos Alejandro Springall 1998 Mexico Stairway To Heaven Errol Morris 1988 USA Takeshi Kitano L'Imprévisible Takeshi Kitano the Unpredictable Jean-Pierre Limosin 1999 France The City Below The Line Milton Moses Ginsberg 1999 USA Tippi Hedrens Screen Test Alfred Hitchcock 1962 USA Too Pure Sunmin Park 1999 Korea, USA

Leopards of Tomorrow Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani) Leopards of Tomorrow - Special Program Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Bonne Journée, Monsieur M. Good Day, Mr. M. Samuel Guillaume, Frédéric Guillaume 1999 SwitzerlandLa Tua Lingua Sul Mio CuoreYour Tongue on My HeartAsia Argento1999ItaliaPortugal A Testemunha The Witness Fátima Ribeiro 1998 Portugal Dois Dragões Two Dragons Margarida Cardoso 1996 Portugal Estou Perto I'm Close Sandro Aguilar 1998 Portugal História Sem Interesse History without Interest Wilson Siqueira 1998 Portugal Jam Session Marina Simóes 1998 USA Menos Nove Minus Nine Rita Nunes Portugal O Prego The Nail João Maia 1999 Portugal O Que Foi? What it Was? Ivo M. Ferreira 1999 Portugal O Ralo Or Laugh Tiago Guedes, Frederico Serra 1999 Portugal Porque É Que Eu Não Disse Nada Why I Didn't Say Anything Miguel Seabra Lopes 1999 Portugal Primavera João Tuna 1999 Portugal Senhor Jerónimo Inês De Medeiros 1998 Portugal Uma Voz Na Noite A VOICE in the NIGHT Solveig Nordlund 1998 Portugal É Só Um Minuto It's Just a Minute Pedro Caldas 1998 PortugalPortugal - Special Programs A Caça Hunting Manoel de Oliveira 1963 Portugal A Pousada Das Chagas The Pousada Das Chagas Paulo Rocha 1971 Portugal Douro, Faina Fluvial Doro, Float Fluvial Manoel de Oliveira 1931 Portugal Golpe De Asa Handle António Borges Correia 1998 Portugal Jaime António Reis 1974 O Senhor The Lord Antonio Campos 1959 Portugal Quem Espera Por Sapatos De Defunto Morre Descalço Who Waits for Deceased Shoes Dies Barefoot João César Monteiro 1970 Um Tesoiro A Tatter Antonio Campos 1958 PortugalSwiss Confederation 12 X 12 Maja Zimmermann 1999 USA Adrian Und Der Wolf Adrian and the Wolf Sylvie Lazzarini 1999 Germany Babami Hirsizlar Caldi Babami Hireless Caldied Esen Isik 1998 Switzerland Blush Barbara Kulcsar 1999 Switzerland Darf Ich Mal Schreien May I Scream Jeanne Berthoud 1998 Switzerland Douche Froide Cold Shower Julien Sulser 1999 Switzerland Drei Wünsche Three Wishes Rudolph Jula 1999 Germany, Switzerland Einladung Auf Dem Lande Invitation in the Country Thomas Hess 1999 Switzerland Elysium Tobias Weber 1999 Switzerland Gömmer Hiding Zita Bernet 1999 Switzerland L'Appel De La Cave Call of the Cellar Mathieu Mercier 1999 Switzerland Les Électrons Libres Free Electrons Frédéric Mermoud 1999 Switzerland Lettre À Mon Père Letter to My Father Karine Odorici 1999 Switzerland Lilien Lilies Oliver Rihs 1999 Switzerland Not Registered Nello Correale 1999 Switzerland Razor'S Edge Lorenzo Benedick 1999 USA Sinécure Sinecure Patrick Dieth, François Limoge 1999 Switzerland Sinécure Sinecure Patrick Dieth, François Limoge 1999 Switzerland Suite Nuptiale Nuptial Suite François Cesalli 1999 Switzerland The Cookie Thief Korinna Sehringer 1999 Switzerland Trivial Killer Isabelle Vossart 1999 Switzerland

Joe Dante and the 2nd Generation Corman Directors This section featured works from Roger Corman and the directors he worked with and brought up including Joe Dante. It included films, shorts, television episodes and commercials.