The 68th Locarno Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 August 2015 in Locarno, Switzerland. The opening film was Ricki and the Flash directed by Jonathan Demme. It was screened on the Piazza Grande, the 8,000 seat open-air theater.
The festival held a comprehensive retrospective devoted to the work of director Sam Peckinpah. Some festival guests included then 26-year old director Bi Gan with his film Kaili Blues along with Amy Schumer and Bill Hader who were in town to present their new film Trainwreck. Edward Norton received the Excellence Award and gave a talk on cinema.
The Leopard of Honor was awarded to Michael Cimino, for his career achievements in cinema. During his Q&A he took up double his allotted time, criticizing some in attendance, and talking for more the 2 hours This year's Open Doors section was devoted to Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Right Now, Wrong Then directed by Hong Sang-soo. This was Hong Sang-soo's first ever main competition win at a major European film festival.
Official Jury
Udo Kier, German actor Nadav Lapid, Israeli director.
Official Sections
The following films were screened in these sections:
Piazza Grande The following films were screened on the Piazza Grande:
Piazza Grande: Prefestival Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country E La Nave Va And the Ship Sails On Federico Fellini 1984 Italia Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid Sam Peckinpah 1973 USA
Piazza Grande: Special Event Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Asino Vola Asino Money Marcello Fonte, Paolo Tripodi 2015 Italia
Piazza Grande Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Amnesia Barbet Schroeder 2015 Switzerland Bombay Velvet Anurag Kashyap 2015 India Der Staat Gegen Fritz Bauer The State Against Fritz Bauer Lars Kraume 2015 Germany ErlkönigErlking Georges Schwizgebel 2015 Switzerland Floride Florida Philippe Le Guay 2015 France Guibord S'En Va-T-En Guerre Guibord is Going to War Philippe Falardeau 2015 Canada Heliopolis Sérgio Machado 2015 Brazil I Pugni In Tasca The Fists in your Pocket Marco Bellocchio 1965 Italia Jack Elisabeth Scharang 2015 Austria La Belle Saison Summertime Catherine Corsini 2015 France La Vanité Vanity Lionel Baier 2015 Switzerland Le Dernier Passage The Last Passage Pascal Magontier 2015 France Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Alfonso Gomez-Rejon 2014 USA Pastorale Cilentana Cilento Pastoral Mario Martone 2015 Italia Qing Tian Jie Yi Hao The Laundryman LEE Chung 2015 Taiwan Ricki and the Flash Jonathan Demme 2015 USA Southpaw Antoine Fuqua 2015 USA The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino 1978 Great Britain Trainwreck Judd Apatow 2015 USA
Main Competition The following films were screened in the International Competition:
Highlighted title indicates Golden Leopard winner: Original Title English Title Director(s) Production Country Bella E Perduta Beautiful and Lost Pietro Marcello Italia Brat Dejan Bakur Bakuradze Russia Chant D'Hiver Winter Song Otar Iosseliani France Chevalier Athina Rachel Tsangari Greece Cosmos Andrzej Żuławski France Entertainment Rick Alverson USA Happy Hour Ryusuke Hamaguchi Japan Heimatland Home Country Lisa Blatter, Gregor Frei, Jan Gassmann, Benny Jaberg, Carmen Jaquier, Michael Krummenacher, Jonas Meier, Tobias Nölle, Lionel Rupp, Mike Scheiwiller Switzerland James White Josh Mond USA Jigeumeun Matgo Geuttaeneun Teullida Right Now, Wrong Then Hong Sang-soo South Korea Ma Dar Behesht Per Fateful Sina Ataeian Dena Iran No Home Movie Chantal Akerman Belgium O Futebol Football Sergio Oksman Spain Schneider vs. Bax Alex van Warmerdam Netherlands Suite Armoricaine Armorican Suite Pascale Breton France Sulanga Gini Aran Dark in the White Light Vimukthi Jayasundara Sri Lanka Te Prometo Anarquía I Promise You Anarchy Julio Hernández Cordón Mexico The Sky Trembles And The Earth Is Afraid And The Two Eyes Are Not Brothers Ben Rivers Great Britain Tikkun Avishai Sivan Israel
Filmmakers of the Present The Concorso Cineasti del Presente, also known as the Filmmakers of the Present Competition, showcases first and second feature films from emerging filmmakers. The following films were screened in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section:
Filmmakers of the Present Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Dead Slow Ahead Mauro Herce 2015 Spain Der Nachtmahr The Nightmare AKIZ 2015 Germany Dom Juan House Juan Vincent Macaigne 2015 France Dream Land Steve Chen 2015 Cambodia El Movimiento The Movement Benjamin Naishtat 2015 Argentina Keeper Guillaume Senez 2015 Belgium Le Grand Jeu The Great Game Nicolas Pariser 2015 France Les Êtres Chers Dear Beings Anne Émond 2015 Canada Lu Bian Ye Can Kaili Blues Bi Gan 2015 China Moj Brate - Mio Fratello Moj Brate - My Brother Nazareno Manuel Nicoletti 2015 Italia Olmo & The Seagull Petra Costa, Lea Glob 2014 Denmark Siembra Sowing Santiago Lozano, Ángela Osorio Rojas 2015 Colombia The Waiting Room Igor Drljaca 2015 Canada Thithi Funeral Raam Reddy 2015 India
Out of Competition The following films were screened Out of Competition:
Out of Competition: Feature Films Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Contre-Pouvoirs Counterpowers Malek Bensmaïl 2015 Algérie Fragments Du Paradis Fragments of Paradise Stéphane Goël 2015 Switzerland Genitori Parents Alberto Fasulo 2015 Italia I Sogni Del Lago Salato The Dreams of the Salted Lake Andrea Segre 2015 Italia Kaki Kouba Kaki SÔDA Kazuhiro 2015 Japan Kiev/Moscow. Part 1 Elena Khoreva 2015 Russia Le Bois Dont Les Rêves Sont Faits The Wood Whose Dreams are Made Claire Simon 2015 France Romeo E Giulietta Romeo and Giulietta Massimo Coppola 2015 Italia Topophilia Peter Bo Rappmund 2015 USA Vivere Alla Grande Live Fabio Leli 2015 Italia Yes No Maybe Kaspar Kasics 2015 Switzerland
Out of Competition: Art Basel Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Anfangsszene Starting Scene Karolin Meunier 2015 Germany It, Heat, Hit Laure Prouvost 2010 Great Britain The Girl Chewing Gum John Smith 1976 Great Britain Turbulent Shirin Neshat 1998 USA Twelve Melanie Manchot 2015 Great Britain
Out of Competition: Brilhadora Canvas Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Garoto Boy Júlio Bressane 2015 Brazil O Espelho The Mirror Rodrigo Lima 2015 Brazil O Prefeito The Mayor Bruno Safadi 2015 Brazil Origem Do Mundo Origin of the World Moa Batsow 2015 Brazil
Out of Competition: Shorts Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Estratos De La Imagen Image Strata Lois Patiño 2015 Spain L'Architecte De Saint-Gaudens The Architect of Saint-Gaudens Serge Bozon, Julie Desprairies 2015 France Noite Sem Distância Nightless Night Lois Patiño 2015 Portugal Riot Nathan Silver 2015 USA The Glory Of Filmmaking In Portugal Manuel Mozos 2015 Portugal Undisclosed Recipients Sandro Aguilar 2015 Portugal
Open Doors This year's Open Doors section was devoted to Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The following films were screened in the Open Doors section :
Open Doors: Screenings Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Bla Cinima Bla Cinema Lamine Ammar-Khodja 2014 France Gabbla Cage Tariq Teguia 2008 Algérie Histoire De Judas History of Judas Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche 2015 France Horra That's the Moez Kamoun 2014 Tunisia La Chine Est Encore Loin China is Still Far Away Malek Bensmaïl 2009 France Les Terrasses The Terraces Merzak Allouache 2013 France Sur La Planche On the Edge Leïla Kilani 2011 MoroccoOpen Doors: Libya Shorts Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country 80 Muhannad Lamin 2012 Libia Dead End Ahmed Aboub 2015 Libia Drifting Samer S. Omar 2015 Libia Graffiti Anas El Gomati, Ibrahim El Mayet 2012 Libia Land Of Men Kelly Ali 2015 Libia Mission Impossible Najmi Own 2015 Libia The Mosque Farag Al-Sharif 2015 Libia The Runner Mohannad Eissa 2014 Libia The Sandwich Maker Samer S. Omar 2014 Libia The Secret Room Ibrahim Y. Shebani 2012 Libia
Open Doors: Shorts Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country 2=1=0 Rim Mejdi 2010 Morocco En Dehors De La Ville Outside the City Rim Mejdi 2014 Morocco La Fièvre Fever Safia Benhaim 2014 France Retour, Vers Un Point D'Équilibre Back, Towards a Point of Balance Nadia Chouïeb 2009 Algérie Tarzan, Don Quichotte Et Nous Tarzan, Don Quixote and We Hassen Ferhani 2013 Algérie
Leopards of Tomorrow The following films were screened in Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani) section:
Special Program Special Programs - Leopards of Tomorrow Original titleEnglish titleDirector(s)YearProduction country Consummate 2015 Bosnia and Herzegovina
International Competition International Competition - Leopards of Tomorrow Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Dear Director Marcus Lindeen 2015 Sweden Des Millions De Larmes Millions of Tears Natalie Beder 2015 France Eco Xacio Baño 2015 Spain Fils Du Loup Son of the Wolf Lola Quivoron 2015 France Gulliver Goldiver María Alché 2015 Argentina História De Uma Pena History of a Penalty Leonardo Mouramateus 2015 Brazil I Remember Nothing Zia Anger 2015 USA Junilyn Has Carlo Francisco Manatad 2015 Philippines Km 73 Radu Ghelbereu 2015 Great Britain La Impresión De Una Guerra The Impression of a War Camilo Restrepo 2015 France La Novia De Frankenstein Frankenstein's Girlfriend Agostina Galvez, Francisco Lezama 2015 Argentina Lampedusa Lampedus Philip Cartelli, Mariangela Ciccarello 2015 Italia Las Cuatro Esquinas Del Círculo The Four Corners of the Circle Katarina Stanković 2015 Germany Mama Davit Pirtskhalava 2015 Georgia Maria Do Mar João Rosas 2015 Portugal Nothing Human Tom Rosenberg 2015 USA Nueva Vida New Life Kiro Russo 2015 Argentina O Que Resta What Remains Jola Wieczorek 2015 Austria O Teto Sobre Nós The Ceiling About Us Bruno Carboni 2015 Brazil Renaître Reborn Jean-François Ravagnan 2015 Belgium Sa Pagitan Ng Pagdalaw At Paglimot Between Visiting and Forgetting Liryc Dela Cruz 2015 Philippines Salarié Oriental Oriental Employee Rinat Bekchintayev, Egor Shevchenko 2015 Russia Shikuf Osi Wald 2014 Israel Yellow Fieber Konstantina Kotzamani 2015 Greece Zeus Pavel Vesnakov 2015 Germany
National Competition National Competition - Leopards of Tomorrow Original titleEnglish titleDirector(s)YearProduction country Babor Casanova Casanova Babor Karim Sayad 2015 Switzerland D'Ombres Et D'Ailes Shadows and Wings Eleonora Marinoni, Elice Meng 2015 Switzerland Ein Ort Wie Dieser A Place Like this Philip Meyer 2015 Switzerland Hausarrest House Arrest Matthias Sahli 2015 Switzerland Joconde Lora Mure-Ravaud 2015 Switzerland Just Another Day In Egypt Nikola Ilić, Corina Schwingruber Ilič 2015 Switzerland La Rivière Sous La Langue The River under the Language Carmen Jaquier 2015 Switzerland Le Barrage The Dam Samuel Grandchamp 2015 Switzerland Les Monts S'Embrasent The Mountains Get Rid of 2015 Switzerland Persi Lost Caterina Mona 2015 Switzerland The Meadow Jela Hasler 2015 Switzerland
Signs of Life The following films were screened in the Signs of Life section: Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country 88:88 Isiah Medina 2015 Canada Chi Jiongjiong Qiu 2015 China Deux Rémi, Deux Two Rémi, Two Pierre Léon 2015 France L'Infinita Fabbrica Del Duomo The Infinite Fabbrica Del Duomo Massimo D'Anolfi, Martina Parenti 2015 Italia L'Accademia Delle Muse The Muse Academy José Luis Guerín 2015 Spain Machine Gun Or Typewriter? Travis Wilkerson 2015 USA Recollection Kamal Aljafari 2015 Germany Slackjaw Zach Weintraub 2014 USA
History (s) of Cinema The festival's Histoire(s) du Cinéma section showcases films deemed significant to the evolution of cinema. Films by the festival's career award winners are presented in this section. The following films were screened in Histoire(s) du Cinéma section: {| class="wikitable sortable" width="100%" |-