The 55th Locarno Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 August 2002 in Locarno, Switzerland. Films from 30 countries were shown at the festival. The opening film was The Importance of Being Ernest directed by Oliver Parker. Shown on the Piazza Grande, the 7,000-seat open-air theater, the closing film of the festival was the world premiere of Possession directed by Neil LaBute. The Leopard of Honor was awarded to American actor and director Sydney Pollack, who flew himself to Locarno as co-pilot in his own personal plane.
The festival also held the European premiere of M. Night Shyamalan's Signs and Christopher Nolan's Insomnia. Other noteworthy films at the festival were Secretary directed by Steven Shainberg and Gus Van Sant's Gerry in competition. All films screened on the Piazza Grande were world or international premieres.
A sections were held for Indian films called "Indian Summer" and another for films from Afghanistan called "Afghan Day", which was attended by the Afghani Culture Minister and featured some films that made in secret under the Taliban. Director Peter Bogdanovich also presented a retrospective of filmmaker Allan Dwan.
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to The Longing directed by Iain Dilthey.
Official Jury Cedomir Kolar, Serbian producer, Jury head Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor Aamir Khan, Indian actor producer Emanuel Levy, American film critic Jafar Panahi, Iranian director Niloufar Pazira, Afghan-Canadian director and actress Bela Tarr, Hungarian director
Official sections
The following films were screened in these sections:
Piazza Grande
The Piazza Grande is the 7,000-seat open-air theater built each year in the town square. All films screened on the Piazza Grande this year were world or international premieres. Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Ali G Indahouse Mark Mylod 2002 Great Britain Bend It Like Beckham Gurinder Chadha 2002 USA, Great Britain Birdseye Stephen Beckner, Mike Huber 2002 Switzerland, USA Corto Maltese , La Cour Secrète Des Arcanes Corto Maltese, the Secret Courtyard of Mysteries Pascal Morelli 2002 France, Italia Dead Or Alive: Final Takashi Miike 2001 Japan Hommage À Positif: L'Armata Brancaleone Hommage to Positif: For Love and Gold Mario Monicelli 1966 Italia Insomnia Christopher Nolan 2002 USA L'Idole The Idol Samantha Lang 2002 France My Little Eye Marc Evans 2001 Great Britain Novo Jean-Pierre Limosin 2002 France, Switzerland Passage Shirin Neshat 2001 USA Possession Neil LaBute 2002 USA Signs M. Night Shyamalan 2002 USA The Bourne Identity Doug Liman 2002 USA, Czech Republic The Importance of Being Earnest Oliver Parker 2002 Great Britain, USA They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Sydney Pollack 1969 USA Oligarch Tycoon Pavel Lounguine 2002 France, Russia
International Competition Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Aime Ton Père Love your Father Jacob Berger 2002 France, Switzerland Al Primo Soffio Di Vento To the First Breath of Wind Franco Piavoli 2002 Italia Blue Moon Andrea Maria Dusl 2002 Austria Das Verlangen The Longing Iain Dilthey 2002 Germany Diskoli Apocheretismi: O Babas Mou Difficult Expression: My Pope Penny Panayotopoulou 2002 Greece, Germany Gerry Gus Van Sant 2001 USA La Cage The Cage Alain Raoust 2002 France Ma Vraie Vie À Rouen My Real Life in Rouen Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau 2002 France Man, Taraneh, Panzdah Sal Daram Man, Taranheh, Panzdah Sal Daram Rassul Sadr Ameli 2002 Iran Meisje Girl Dorothée Van den Berghe 2002 Belgium, Netherlands Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Aparna Sen 2002 India Okay Jesper W. Nielsen 2001 Denmark Oltre Il Confine Beyond the Border Rolando Colla 2002 Switzerland, Italia One Hour Photo Mark Romanek 2002 USA Personal Velocity: Three Portraits Rebecca Miller 2001 USA René Alain Cavalier 2002 France Revengers Tragedy Alex Cox 2001 Great Britain Secretary Steven Shainberg 2002 USA Sophiiiie! Michael Hofmann 2002 Germany Szép Napok Nice Days Kornél Mundruczó 2002 Hungary Tan De Repente So Suddenly Diego Lerman 2002 Argentina Xiang Ji Mao Yi Yang Fei MENG Jing Hui 2002 China
Filmmakers of the Present Filmmakers of the Present / In Progress Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Aurevoiretmerci Arnold Pasquier 2001 France Two Michel Snow Arnold Pasquier 2002 France Filmmakers of the Present / Out of Competition Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Aleph Bay-E Afgan Mohsen Makhmalbaf 2002 Iran Berlin. Die Sinfonie Der Grosstadt Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis Walter Ruttmann, Thomas Schadt 1927 Germany Cuore Napoletano Neapolitan Heart Paolo Santoni 2002 Italia Derrida Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering Kofman 2002 USA Después De La Evasion After the Evasion Antonio Llorens 2002 Spain Essen, Schlafen, Keine Frauen Eating, Sleeping, No Women Heiner Stadler 2002 Germany Etrangère Stradder Danielle Arbid 2002 France Hoover Street Revival Sophie Fiennes 2002 Great Britain, France Il Salumificio The Salami Factory Alessandra Tantillo 2002 Italia Jour De Marché Market Day Jacqueline Veuve 2002 Switzerland Keep In Touch Jean-Claude Rousseau 1987 France L'Acqua In Mezzo Water in the Middle Daria Menozzi 2002 Italia L'Impatience Impatience Antoine Fumat 2002 France L'Implacabile Tenente Rossi The Relentless Lieutenant Rossi Francesco Calogero 2002 Italia Le Bruit, L Odeur Et Quelques Étoiles Noise, Smell and some Stars Eric Pittard 2002 France, Belgium Le Nom Du Feu Fire Name Eugène Green 2002 France Les Guerriers De La Beauté Beauty Warriors Pierre Coulibeuf 2002 France, Belgium Les Jours Où Je N'Existe Pas The Days when I Do not Exist Jean-Charles Fitoussi 2002 France Lettre A Roberto Letre to Roberto Jean-Claude Rousseau 2002 France Lost Paradise Pierre Coulibeuf 2002 France Mage Wam Atha Mage Wam Atha aka Pickpocket (My Left Hand) Linton Semage 2002 Sri Lanka My Room Le Grand Canal Anne-Sophie Brabant, Pierre Gerbaux 2002 France Nikita Kino The Plane that Came to Vivian Ostrovsky 2002 France Provisoires Amis PROVIREMENTS Jacques Meilleurat 2002 France Ricco Rich Mike Wildbolz 2002 Switzerland Ritratti Luigi Meneghello Portraits Luigi Meneghello Carlo Mazzacurati, Marco Paolini 2002 Italia Royal Bonbon Royal Bobs Charles Najman 2001 France, Canada Ruzegar-E Ma Rakhshān Banietemad 2002 Iran Réalisations Achievements Arnold Pasquier France Slepa Pega Blind Spot Hanna Slak 2002 Slovenia Todo Juntos All Together Federico León 2002 Argentina Wanted Kim Hopkins 2002 Great Britain Yok Mang No Mang Eungsu Kim 2002 Korea Yönden As Far as Marie Jaoul de Poncheville 2002 France Zappaterra César Meneghetti, Elisabetta Pandimiglio 2002 Italia Zur Lage To the Situation 2002 Austria Filmmakers of the Present / Video Original Title English Title Director(s) Year Production Country Amandla! A Revolution In Four Part Harmony Lee Hirsch 2002 Central African Republic Antologia Opere Di Cioni Carpi Anthology Works by Cioni Carpi Cioni Carpi Italia Antologia Opere Di Luigi Veronesi Anthology Works by Luigi Veronesi Luigi Veronesi Italia Arundhati Roy Paolo Brunatto, Angelo Fontana 2002 Italia Asir Va Entezar I Am Waiting for Mohammad Ahmadi 2002 Iran Beacon Christoph Girardet, Matthias Müller 2002 Germany, Portugal Bernardo Bertolucci: A Cosa Serve Il Cinema? Bernardo Bertolucci: What is the Cinema For? Sandro Lai 2001 Italia Biggie & Tupac Nick Broomfield 2001 Great Britain Ciudad De Maria Maria City Enrique Bellande 2001 Argentina Contes Politiques 2: Interpretations Political Tales 2: Interpretations Pierre Borker 2002 France Dam Nations: Damage Arundhati Roy 2002 Great Britain Diam S Keja Ho Kramer 2002 France Dieci Minuti Alla Fine Ten Minutes at the End Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco 2002 Italia, Portugal Dieci Racconti In Una Stanza-Delusione Ten Stories in a Room-Delusion Nuccio Ambrosino 2001 Italia Don Vitaliano Paolo Pisanelli 2002 Italia Happy Too Thomas Imbach 2002 Switzerland Heaven S Crossroad Kimi Takesue 2002 USA Kalkitos Limestone Miguel Gomes 2002 Portugal L'Orfano The Orphan Oliviero Toscani 2002 Italia Les Treize Vies Du Chat Lelouch The Thirteen Lives of the Cat Lelouch Isabelle Clarke 2002 France Mario Monicelli, L'Artigiano Di Viareggio Mario Monicelli, the Craftsman of Viareggio Marco Cucurnia 2001 Italia Nyde Enjoy Salvatore Lista 2002 France Rax Roberto Paci Daló 2001 Italia Remains Sandro Aguilar 2002 Portugal Sem Terra Landless Pasquale Scimeca, Roberto Torelli 2002 Italia Tambours Sur La Digue Drum on the Dike Ariane Mnouchkine 2002 France Viet Nam Vietnam Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi 2002 Italia Voz Voice Goran Kostic 2002 Yugoslavia Vse Vertovy All Helicopters Vladimir Nepevniy 2001 Russia
Leopards of Tomorrow Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani)