The 40th Locarno Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 August 1987 in Locarno, Switzerland. It featured films and television movies from around the globe. To celebrate the 40th Anniversary, a retrospective of 40 years of films at the Locarno Film Festival was organized. Jean-Luc Godard, opened the festival with a lecture on cinema as a guest of honor. The opening film of the festival, which drew a crowd of 8,000 people, was Federico Fellini's film Intervista, despite the contract disputes that had kept the film from screening since its Cannes premiere.
Over 60,000 people attended screenings on the Piazza Grande, the open-air theater, during the week. The Piazza Grande only had 5,000 seats, but thousands sat on the floor and even stood to watch some films, including Ettore Scola's The Family. More than 600 journalists attended the festival and 1,800 professional accreditation passes were given out. Film festival chiefs from around the world attended, including the heads of the Berlin, Mannheim, San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Istanbul, and Cairo film festivals. It was the most expensive Locarno festival ever, with a budget of around $1,200,000 (2 million Swiss francs).
For the first time in the West, Russian director Aleksandr Sokourov was able to screen his movie The Lonely Voice of Man, which had been banned by the Soviet Union since 1978. Another Russian filmmaker, Kira Muratova, served on the festival jury and was able to screen two of her films that had also been banned in the Soviet Union. Director Win Wenders attended the festival for one day and held a midnight press conference to discuss his new film Wings of Desire. On the last day of the festival Colombia held a surprise screening of La Bamba.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to O Bobo directed by José Alvaro Morais.
Jury International Jury – Main Competition Benoit Jacquot, French director Kira Muratova, Russian director Mario Botta, Swiss architect Richard Peña, American film researcher Official sections
The following films were screened in these sections:
Main Competition The following films were screened in the Main Competition:
Feature films Highlighted title indicates Golden Leopard winner: In Competition – Feature Films / Main Program Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country A Dos Aguas The Two Waters Carlos Olguin 1986 Argentina A Fior Di Pelle Skin Deep Gianluca Fumagalli 1987 Italy Aurelia Giorgio Molteni 1987 Italy Avril Brisé Broken April Liria Begeja 1987 France Checkpoint Parviz Sayyad 1987 USA Dixia Qing Love Unto Waste Stanley Kwan 1986 Hong Kong Hol Volt, Hol Nem Volt A Hungarian Fairy Tale Gyula Gazdag 1986 Hungary Konbu Finze (Kongbu Fenzi) Terrorizers Edward Yang 1986 Taiwan O Bobo José Álvaro Morais 1987 Portugal Odinokij Golos Celoveka The Lonely Voice of Man Aleksandr Sokourov1987 Russia Personaggi & Interpreti Heinz Bütler 1987 Switzerland Poisons Pierre Maillard 1987 Switzerland, France Robinson No Niwa Robinson's Garden Masashi Yamamoto 1987 Japan Sinfin Class Cristian Pauls 1986 Argentina Skytturnar White Whales Fridrik Thor Fridriksson 1987 Iceland Three Bewildered People In The Night Gregg Araki 1987 USA With Love To The Person Next To Me Brian McKenzie 1987 Australia ZjoekZjoek: The Art of Forgetting Erik van Zuylen 1987 Netherlands Television Movies Highlighted title indicates Golden Leopard's Eye winner: In Competition – TV-Movies / Main Program Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country After Pilkington Christopher Morahan 1987 Great Britain Blue Window Norman René 1987 USA Coast To Coast Sandy Johnson 1987 Great Britain El Caso Del Cadaver Descuartizado The Case of Dismembered Corpse Ricardo Franco 1985 Spain Escape From Sobibor Jack Gold 1987 Great Britain Le Rapport Du Gendarme The Gendarme Report Claude Goretta 1986 Switzerland Life Story Mick Jackson 1987 Great Britain Long Gone Martin Davidson 1987 USA May We Borrow Your Husband Bob Mahoney 1986 Great Britain Piatnò The Stain Aleko Tzabadze 1986 Russia Promise Glenn Jordan 1986 USA The Last Innocent Man Roger Spottiswoode 1987 USA Welcome In Vienna Alex Corti 1985 Austria Zischke Martin Theo Krieger 1986 Germany
Anniversary - 40 Years of Festivals at Locarno The following films were screened in the 40th Anniversary - 40 Years of Festivals at Locarno section: Anniversary Retrospective – 40 Years of Festivals at Locarno / Main ProgramFestEnglish titleOriginal titleDirector(s)YearProduction country1stMy SunO Sole MioGiacomo Gentiluomo1946Italy2ndLady In The LakeRobert Montgomery1947USA3rdGermany, Year ZeroGermania, Anno ZeroRoberto Rossellini1947Italy, Germany4th Port of CallHamnstadIngmar Bergman1948Sweden5thSunday in AugustDomenica D'AgostoLuciano Emmer1950Italy6thGold MarieCasque D'OrJacques Becker1952France10thTwelve Angry MenSidney Lumet1955USA10thIl GridoMichelangelo Antonioni1957Italy11thLe Beau SergeClaude Chabrol1958France12thKiller's KissStanley Kubrick1955USA12thPozegnaniaWojciech Has1958Poland14thThe Human PyramidLa Pyramide HumaineJean Rouch1960France14thSaturday Night and Sunday MorningKarel Reisz1960Great Britain14thThe ConnectionShirley Clarke1961USA15thOn the Empty BalconyEn El Balcon VacioJomí García Ascot1962Mexico16thHallelujah the HillsAdolfas Mekas1963USA17thLove MeetingsComizi D'AmorePier Paolo Pasolini1963Italy17thThe Green YearsOs Verdes AnosPaulo Rocha1963Portugal17thBlack PeterCerny PetrMilos Forman1964Czech Republic18th Age of IllusionsÁlmodozások koraIstvan Szabo1964Hungary18thFists in the PocketI Pugni In TascaMarco Bellocchio1965Italy18thThe GirlEltavozott NapMarta Meszaros1968Hungary19th Shadows of Forgotten AncestorsTeni Sabytych PrjedkovSerguei Paradjanov1965Russia20th The Moon with TeethLa Lune Avec Les DentsMichel Soutter1967Switzerland21stThe Hour of the FurnancesLa Hora De Los HornosFernando E. Solanas1968Argentina22ndNo Path Through FireV Ognje Broda NjetGleb Panfilov1968Russia22ndThree Sad TigersTres Tristes TigresRaul Ruiz1968Chile23rd The Night of Counting the YearsEl MumiaaShadi Abdel Salam1969Egypt25thBleak MomentsMike Leigh1971Great Britain26thThe IlluminationIluminacjaKrzysztof Zanussi1973Poland27thCéline and Julie Go BoatingCeline Et Julie Vont En BateauJacques Rivette1974France28thXalaOusmane Sembène1974Senegal29thHarvest: 3,000 YearsMirt Sost Shi AmitHaile Gerima1975Ethiopia29thThe Big NightLe Grand SoirFrancis Reusser1976Switzerland31stThe Idlers of the Fertile ValleyI Tembelides Tis Eforis KiladasNikos Panayotopoulos1978Greece32ndThe HerdSuruZeki Ökten1978Türkiye32ndImmacolata and Concetta: The Other JealousyImmacolata E ConcettaSalvatore Piscitelli1979Italy34thPixoteHector Babenco1980Brazil36thThe PrincessAdj Kiraly Katonat!Pal Erdöss1983Hungary37thThe Terence Davies TrilogyTerence Davis1976Great Britain
Out of Competition (Fuori Concorso) The following films were screened Out of Competition (Fuori Concorso): Out of Competition – Feature Films / Main Program English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production CountryCandy Mountain Robert Frank, Rudy Wurlitzer 1987 Switzerland, France Wings of Desire Der Himmel Über Berlin Wim Wenders 1987 Germany The Death of Empedocles Der Tod Des Empedokles Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub 1986 GermanyIntervista Federico Fellini 1987 ItalyI've Heard The Mermaids Singing Patricia Rozema 1987 Canada Another Love Ina Laska Dušan Trančík 1985 Czech RepublicKing Lear Jean-Luc Godard1987 France The Family La Famiglia Ettore Scola 1986 Italy, France The Beggars Les Mendiants Benoît Jacquot 1987 Switzerland, France Mills of Hell Malom A Pokolban Gyula Maár 1986 Hungary The Beekeeper O Melissokomos Theo Angelopoulos 1986 Greece, FranceDark Eyes Oci Ciornie Nikita Mikhalkov 1987 ItalyPrick Up Your Ears Stephen Frears 1987 Great Britain Blind Chance Przypadek Krzysztof Kieślowski 1987 Poland Axiliad Siekierezada Witold Leszczyński 1986 Poland Under the Sun of Satan Sous Le Soleil De Satan Maurice Pialat 1987 France The Theme Tema Gleb Panfilov 1979 Russia A Flame in My Heart Une Flamme Dans Mon Coeur Alain Tanner 1987 Switzerland, FranceVera Sérgio Toledo 1986 BrazilWish You Were Here David Leland 1987 Great Britain I Remember you Ya Tebia Pomnu Ali Khamraev 1986 Russia In the Wild Mountains Ye Shan Xueshu Yan 1985 ChinaYeelen Souleymane Cissé 1987 Mali Tribute To – Kira Muratova The following films were screened in tribute to Kira Muratova: Tribute To Kira Muratova English Title Original Title Director(s) Year Production Country The Long Farewell Dolgie Provody Kira Muratova1971 Russia Brief Encounters Korotkie Vstreci Kira Muratova 1967 Russia
On the Occasion of the 40th Anniversary A l'occasion du 40ème anniversaire, was a special selection of films shot on-location at the Locarno Film Festival. The following films were screened in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Festival. 40th Anniversary Screenings Original Title English Title Director(s)Year Production Country Cine-Piazza François Kohler Belgium, Switzerland L'Internazionale Involontaria Del Cinema Giovane (Locarno 1946-1987) The Involuntary International Cinema (Locarno 1946-1987) Matteo Bellinelli1987 Switzerland RemakeAnsano Giannarelli1987 Italy
Out of Program The following films were screened Out of Program: English Title Original Title Director(s)Year Production Country Berlin, August 1945 Berlin, Août 1945 Jean Rouch1987La Bomba Luis Valdez1987 USA
Independent sections Swiss Information (Information Suisse) The following films were screened in the Swiss Information (Information Suisse) section: Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Alpenglühn Silvia Horisberger, Norbert Wiedmer 1971 Switzerland Blues, Black And White Markus Imboden 1987 Switzerland Dani, Michi, Renato Und Max Dani, Michi, Renato and Max Richard Dindo 1987 Switzerland Der Lauf Der Dinge The Course of Things Peter Fischli, David Weiss 1987 Switzerland Die Lange Nacht The Long Night Christof Vorster 1987 Switzerland Du Mich Auch You Me Too Anja Franke, Dani Levy 1986 Switzerland, Germany Duenki-Schott Tobias Wyss 1986 Switzerland Ex Voto Ex Vote Erich Langjahr 1986 Switzerland Habibi - Ein Liebesbrief Habibi - a Love Letter Anka Schmid 1986 Switzerland Ikaria Bp 1447 Pierre-Alain Meier 1987 Switzerland Innocenza Innocence Villi Hermann 1986 Switzerland Jenatsch Daniel Schmid 1987 Switzerland Karma Hô Qunag Minh 1986 Switzerland L'Autre Suisse The Other Swiss Alvaro Bizzarri Switzerland L'Ogre The Ogre Simon Edelstein 1986 Switzerland La Dame De Pique The Lady of Spades Patricia Plattner 1986 Switzerland Psychokillers Jackie Léger 1987 Switzerland Rotlicht Red Light Urs Odermatt 1987 Switzerland Une Certaine Josette Bauer A Certain Josette Bauer Elisabeth Gujer, Uli Meier Switzerland Unterwegs On the Way Switzerland Wendel Christoph Schaub 1987 Switzerland Zelja Heisst Wunsch, Zivot Ist Das Leben Zelja Means Wish, Civilo is Life Snezana Herceg, Otto Wymann 1986 Switzerland
Official awards International Jury
Golden Leopard: O Bobo directed by José Alvaro Morais Silver Leopard: Terrorizers directed by Edward Yang (Yang De-Chang) Bronze Leopard: The Lonely Voice of Man directed by Aleksandr Sokourov Bronze Leopard (Best Acting): for Best Actor to Arpad Vermes in A Hungarian Fairy Tale Bronze Leopard (for Technical Achievement): to director and producer Gregg Araki for Three Bewildered People in the Night Special Mentions, Official Jury: to Roland Dubillard for acting in Poisons directed by Pierre Maillard; White Whales directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson; Robinson No Niwa (Robinson's Garden) directed by Masashi Yamamoto International Jury TV-Movies
Golden Leopard's Eye: Life Story directed by Mick Jackson (BBC) Silver Leopard's Eye: Piatno (The Stain) directed by Aleko Tzabadze (USSR) Bronze Leopard's Eye: Welcome in Vienna directed by Axel Corti Special Mention: Simon Gray for script of After Pilkington (UK) FIPRESCI Jury