The Locarno 2020 – For the Future of Films was held in place of the 73rd Locarno Film Festival from 5 to 15 August 2020 in Locarno, Switzerland and online. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 73rd festival was canceled and in its place was a hybrid of in-person and virtual screenings. No traditional Golden Leopard was awarded.
The 2020 festival screened 20 unfinished projects that were suspended due to the pandemic and awarded money to the winners: $73,000 (CHF 70,000) for each Pardo 2020 winner. Other festival awards also distributed money and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation awarded $124,000 (CHF 100,000) worth of advertising on its channels to the SRG SSR Award winners. The opening film of the festival was First Cow by Kelly Reichardt.
Juries
International competition - The Films After Tomorrow
Kelly Reichardt, American director Nadav Lapid, Israeli writer and director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Lesothian screenwriter, director and cinematographer
Swiss selection jury
Alina Marazzi, Italian and Swiss director Matías Piñeiro, Argentinian director, writer and artist Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iranian director, producer, editor, screenwriter and activist
Leopards of Tomorrow Kiri Dalena, Philippine filmmaker and visual artist Mamadou Dia, Senegalese filmmaker Claudette Godfrey, American Senior Film Programmer of SXSW
Sections The following films were selected to receive screening in the sections below:
The films after tomorrow International selection This section screened unfinished projects that were suspended due to the pandemic.
Highlighted title indicates winner English title Original Title Director(s) Production Country ''Chocobar'' Lucrecia Martel Argentina, United States, Denmark, Mexico Cidade; Campo Juliana Rojas Brazil The Fabric of the Human Body De Humani Corporis Fabrica Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor France, United States Eureka Lisandro Alonso France/Germany/Portugal/Mexico/Argentina Human Flowers of Flesh Helena Wittmann Germany/France I Come from Ikotun Wang Bing France/China When the Waves Are Gone Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon Lav Diaz Philippines/France/Portugal/Denmark Nowhere Near Miko Revereza Philippines/Mexico/USA Little Solange Petite Solange Axelle Ropert France Savagery Selvajaria Miguel Gomes Portugal/France/Brazil/China/Greece
Swiss selection Highlighted title indicates winner English title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Azor Andreas Fontana Switzerland/Argentina/France A Piece of Sky Ein Stück Himmel Michael Koch Switzerland/Germany Far West Pierre-François Sauter Switzerland/Portugal/Italy A Flower in the Mouth Eric Baudelaire Switzerland/France L'Afrique des Femmes Mohammed Soudani Switzerland/Ivory Coast Les Histoires d'Amour de Liv S. Anna Luif Switzerland Lux Raphaël Dubach, Mateo Ybarra Switzerland Olga Elie Grappe Switzerland/France Unrest Unrueh Cyril Schäublin Switzerland Zahorí Marí Alessandrini Switzerland/Argentina/Chile/France
A journey in the festival's history This section was selected by directors whose films were featured in "The Films After Tomorrow" section of the Festival. Title Director(s) Year Locarno Festival Prize Production Country Picked by Screening Germany, Year Zero Roberto Rossellini 1948 3rd Festival Grand Prix, Prize for Best Original Screenplay (ex æquo), Best Director (Second Prize) Italy, France, Germany Pierre-François Sauter Online and physical screening Love Meetings Pier Paolo Pasolini 1964 17th Festival Italy Anna Luif Online screening Entranced Earth Glauber Rocha 1967 20th Festival Youth Jury Grand Prix, FIPRESCI International Critics' Prize, Swiss Critics' Prize Brazil Lisandro Alonso Online and physical screening Charles, Dead or Alive Alain Tanner 1969 22nd Festival Pardo d'oro, Youth Jury Prize Switzerland Raphaël Dubach, Mateo Ybarra Online and physical screening Invasión Hugo Santiago 1969 22nd Festival International Jury Special Mention Argentina Andreas Fontana Online and physical screening In Danger and Deep Distress, the Middleway Spells Certain Death Alexander Kluge, Edgar Reitz 1974 27th Festival Federal Republic of Germany Juliana Rojas Online screening India Song Marguerite Duras 1975 28th Festival France Helena Wittmann Online screening Perfumed Nightmare Kidlat Tahimik 1977 30th Festival Philippines Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor Online screening E Nachtlang Füürland Clemens Klopfenstein, Remo Legnazzi 1981 34th Festival Switzerland Michael Koch Online and physical screening Stranger Than Paradise Jim Jarmusch 1984 37th Festival Grand Prix Pardo d'oro, Grand Prix of the City of Locarno, Ecumenical and Youth Jury Special Mentions USA, Federal Republic of Germany Marí Alessandrini Online and physical screening The Terrorizers Edward Yang 1986 40th Festival Special Jury Grand Prix, Pardo d'argento, Second Prize of the City of Locarno Taiwan Eric Baudelaire Online screening O Bobo José Álvaro Morais 1987 40th Festival Grand Prix Pardo d'oro, Grand Prix of the City of Locarno and CICAE Jury Prize Portugal Miguel Gomes Online screening The Seventh Continent Michael Haneke 1989 42nd Festival Pardo di bronzo, Ernest Artaria Prize, Fourth Prize of the City of Locarno Austria Lav Diaz Online and physical screening Metropolitan Whit Stillman 1990 43rd Festival Pardo d'argento, Special Jury Grand Prix and Second Prize of the City of Locarno USA Axelle Ropert Online and physical screening Rapado Martín Rejtman 1992 45th Festival Argentina, Netherlands Lucrecia Martel Online screening Au Nom du Christ Roger Gnoan M'Bala 1993 46th Festival Youth Jury "Environment is Quality of Life Prize" Ivory Coast, Switzerland Mohammed Soudani Online and physical screening A Moment of Innocence Mohsen Makhmalbaf 1996 49th Festival Youth Jury Second Prize "Nouveau Cinéma" and Official's Jury Special Mention Iran, France Miko Revereza Online screening Horse Money Pedro Costa 2014 67th Festival Pardo for Best Director Portugal Wang Bing Online screening No Home Movie Chantal Akerman 2015 68th Festival Belgium, France Cyril Schäublin Online screening M Yolande Zauberman 2018 71st Festival Special Jury Prize and Youth Jury "Environment is Quality of Life" Prize France Elie Grappe Online and physical screening
Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di domani) International competition (Concorso internazionale) Highlighted title indicates winner English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country 1978 Hamza Bangash Pakistan An Act of Affection Viet Vu Portugal/Vietnam Red Aninsri; or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall Aninsri Daeng Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke Thailand Bethlehem 2001 Ibrahim Handal Palestine Digital Funeral: Beta Version Sorayos Prapapan Thailand Aboring Film Ekti Ekgheye Film Mahde Hasan Bangladesh Fish Bowl Ngabo Emmanuel Rwanda The Unseen River Giòng Sông Không Nhìn Thấy Phạm Ngọc Lân Vietnam/Laos Gramercy Pat Heywood, Jamil McGinnis USA Here, Here Joanne Cesario Philippines History of Civilization Zhannat Alshanova Kazakhstan I Ran from It and Was Still in It Darol Olu Kae USA Icemeltland Park Liliana Colombo Italy/United Kingdom How I Beat Glue and Bronze Kako Sam Pobedio Lepak i Bronzu Vladimir Vulević Serbia/Germany Life on the Horn Mo Harawe Somalia/Austria/Germany Memby Rafael Castanheira Parrode Brazil Noor Nour Rim Nakhli Tunisia O Black Hole! Renee Zhan United Kingdom Pacífico Oscuro Camila Beltrán France/Colombia Land Lot S7 Parcelles S7 Abtin Sarabi Senegal/Iran/France Play Schengen Gunhild Enger Norway Return to Toyama Retour à Toyama Atsushi Hirai France/Japan Spotted Yellow Zarde Khaldar Baran Sarmad Iran The Parallel State Statul Paralel Octav Chelaru Romania Break Szünet Levente Kölcsey Hungary Cloud of the Unknown Tacong An Chu Lai Gao Yuan China The Chicken Neo Sora USA The End of Suffering (A Proposal) The End of Suffering Jacqueline Lentzou Greece A Trip to Heaven Thiên Đường Gọi Tên Linh Duong Vietnam/Singapore Thoughts on the Purpose of Friendship Charlie Hillhouse Australia Where to Land Sawandi Groskind Finland
National competition (Concorso nazionale) Highlighted title indicates winner English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Bugs David Shongo Democratic Republic of the Congo/Switzerland Ecorce (Peel) Ecorce Samuel Patthey, Silvain Monney Switzerland Spirits and Rocks: An Azorean Myth Espíritos e Rochas Aylin Gökmen Switzerland/Portugal/Belgium/Hungary Burnt. Land of Fire Grigio. Terra Bruciata Ben Donateo Switzerland/Italy Salmon Men Lachsmänner Veronica L. Mona Montaño, Manuela Leuenberger, Joel Hofmann Switzerland Megamall Aline Schoch Switzerland People on Saturday Menschen am Samstag Jonas Ulrich Switzerland Nha Mila Denise Fernandes Portugal/Switzerland Push This Button If You Begin to Panic Gabriel Böhmer United Kingdom/Switzerland The De Facto Martyr Suite Justine de Gasquet Switzerland Trou Noir (Black Hole) Trou Noir Tristan Aymon Switzerland Um Tordo Batendo Asas Contra o Vento (A Thrush Flapping Its Wings Against the Wind) Um Tordo Batendo Asas Contra o Vento Alexandre Haldemann Switzerland
Open Doors Screenings - Features English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Apparition Aparisyon Isabel Sandoval Philippines/USA Atambua 39 °Celsius Riri Riza Indonesia Clash Engkwentro Pepe Diokno Philippines Memories of My Body Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku Garin Nugroho Indonesia Sell Out! Yeo Joon Han Malaysia Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay Antoinette Jadaone Philippines Songlap Effendee Mazlan, Fariza Azlina Isahak Malaysia Tender Are the Feet Maung Wunna Myanmar The Masseur Masahista Brillante Mendoza Philippines What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love Mouly Surya Indonesia
Open Doors Screenings - Shorts English title Original Title Director(s) Production Country A Gift Kado Aditya Ahmad Indonesia Babylon Keith Deligero Philippines High Way Chia Chee Sum Malaysia Liar Land Ananth Subramaniam Malaysia Listen Min Min Hein Myanmar/USA/Japan Man of Pa-aling Manong ng Pa-aling E del Mundo Philippines/USA No One Is Crazy in This Town Tak Ada Yang Gila di Kota Ini Wregas Bhanuteja Indonesia On Friday Noon Luhki Herwanayogi Indonesia The Ruby Ling Low Malaysia Void Mg Bhone Myanmar
Official Awards The following awards were presented for films shown in competition:
The Films After Tomorrow International Selection Pardo 2020 for the Best International Project: Chocobar by Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/USA/Denmark/Mexico Campari Award Special Jury Prize: SELVAJARIA (Savagery) by Miguel Gomes, Portugal/France/Brazil/China/Greece Swatch Award for the Most Innovative Project: DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA (The Fabric of the Human Body) by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor
Swiss Selection Pardo 2020 for the Best Swiss Project: ZAHORÍ by Marí Alessandrini, Switzerland/Argentina/Chile/France SRG SSR Award: LUX by Raphaël Dubach and Mateo Ybarra, Switzerland
Pardi di Domani International Competition Pardino d'oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film: I RAN FROM IT AND WAS STILL IN IT by Darol Olu Kae, USA Pardino d'argento SRG SSR for an International Short Film: HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION by Zhannat Alshanova, Kazakhstan Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Prize: THIÊN ĐƯỜNG GỌI TÊN (A Trip to Heaven) by Linh Duong, Vietnam/Singapore Special Mention: LIFE ON THE HORN by Mo Harawe, Somalia/Austria/Germany
Swiss Competition Pardino d'oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film: MENSCHEN AM SAMSTAG (People on Saturday) by Jonas Ulrich, Switzerland (Locarno Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards) Pardino d'argento Swiss Life for a Swiss Short Film: TROU NOIR (Black Hole) by Tristan Aymon, Switzerland Best Swiss Newcomer Prize: LACHSMÄNNER (Salmon Men) by Veronica L. Montaño, Manuela Leuenberger, Joel Hofmann, Switzerland
Cinema&Gioventù Jury The Films After Tomorrow
Prize for Best International Project: CIDADE; CAMPO by Juliana Rojas, Brazil Prize for Best Swiss Project: AZOR by Andreas Fontana, Switzerland/France/Argentina