Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Professional Chain announced the industry’s winners on Sunday
Awards include the First Look work-in-progress section focusing on projects nearing completion, Alliance 4 Development and the second heritage restoration competition.
The winners were announced at Sunday’s Locarno Professional Awards Ceremony. Promising feature film projects vying for the First Sight Award come from this year’s spotlight country, Spain.
The Locarno Pro industry chain at this year’s Locarno Film Festival includes industry panels such as artificial intelligence, as well as a master class by Romanian director Radu Jude.
See the full list of winners below.
first sight
First Look is organized in partnership with the ICAA, the Spanish Academy of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts and ICEX Spanish Trade and Investment Agency.
The awards jury is composed of Beatrice Fiorentino, artistic director of Venice International Film Critics Week, and Kerem, director of Istanbul Film Festival Ayan and Mercedes Martínez-Abarca, programmer at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Antaviana Film Premiere Award Covers post-production services up to €50,000 (USD 54,076):
Another summer dream
Director: Erin Bartolome
Producers: Pere Marzo (Colibrí Studio), Irene Bartolomé (IB Films), Elie Kamal (The Attic Productions)
describe: Another summer dream It tells the story of “a collapsed woman’s encounter with a city in ruins…exploring our relationship to the spaces we inhabit and reflecting on the death and survival of a city.”
The jury stated: “This is a poetic and rigorous project that addresses collective trauma by rewriting the topography of a city that has been wounded many times by history. On both a public and private level it restores a city marked by its past. territorial complexity and the dynamics of modernity.
Music Library and SFX/Acorde Awards Music supervision services worth €45,000 ($48,669):
Downstream of the river, there is a tiger
Director: Victor Diego
Producer: Montse Pujol Solà (Boogaloo Films)
Plot synopsis: Julia escapes to Glasgow to start over, but after a few years, she falls into trouble. During the day, she was engaged in photography; at night, she washed dishes. One afternoon, while photographing pedestrians, she began to go blind. As the disease spreads, Julia delves into her past and the city’s past.
Award from post-production company Laserfilm cine y vídeo Worth €5,000 (US$5,407) for subtitles, audio description, transcription and more:
Downstream of the river, there is a tiger
Januzzi Smith Awardincluding an international poster design worth €10,000 ($10,815):
Mares
Director: Ariadna Seba
Produced by: Carles Brugeras, Marieke van der Bersselaar (Polar Star Films), María Nova López (Intactes Films)
describe: Mares takes viewers on an intimate and emotional journey with director Ali (32) and her partner Anna (41), who want to have a baby together. Anna was the first to begin assisted reproduction, and Ariadna captured every step with her camera.
Won the Industry Magazine Award french movies Advertising space worth €5,600 ($6,056):
Still lifes and ghosts
Director: Enrique Brio
Produced by: Alejandra Mora (Quatre Films Audiovideoes SL), Alicia Yubero (Beware of the Dog), Snezana van Houwelingen (This and That), Roberto Butragueño (Sideral)
Introduction: The ghosts and humans in the small town of La Mancha are plagued by worries and sufferings of life and death, and in order to solve the problem, they do not hesitate to adopt extreme and desperate plans.
4 Alliance Development Award
Alphapanda Market Breakthrough Award Consulting services valued at EUR 3,500 (USD 3,818):
bourgeois paranoia Author: Lukas Nathrath, Producer: Linus Günther (Klinkerfilm Production, Germany)
Synopsis: A dark tragicomedy that tells the story of five people struggling with rejection and the desire for revenge as their lives collide over the course of a fateful week. As the insults pile up and everyday situations escalate, their stories intertwine in a busy Hamburg cafe: a waiter who can’t say no, and he’s humiliated until he fights back; Until he fights back; an aspiring writer hoping to meet her idol is accused of stealing; a roommate interview spirals out of control; rejected love turns to obsession; and an art show culminates in bloody violence.
Alphapanda stated: “The 2024 Alphapanda Market Breakthrough Award honors a hopeful vision that we can’t wait for. Humor, discomfort, obsession, revenge and bourgeois paranoia are all pushed to the limit and we are about to embark on a bloody journey.
DreamAgo Script Consulting Residency The Valais Film Commission of Switzerland offers:
6 months and 6 days (6 months and 6 days) Author: Michale Boganim, produced by Mathilde Leite (Vilanova Productions, France), co-produced by Dorothe Beinemeier (Red Balloon Film, Germany)
Synopsis: Juliana Kant is the richest woman in Germany. When she meets Raphael, she succumbs to his charm, jeopardizing her carefully constructed and ritual-driven existence. However, Raphael is not who he claims to be. He is determined to force Kantian people to face up to their past and history.
Pascale Rey (DreamAgo) and Tristan Albrecht (Valais Film Commission) state: “This project is a strong story (verified by DreamAgo criteria) and has great potential in terms of production (validated by the Valais Film Commission). Therefore, We are delighted to offer script revision services to writers with the help of Sir Christopher Hampton. [screenwriting workshop] Feathered and filmy in June 2025.
Midpoint Consulting Award Get an in-depth online script consultation with one of the Midpoint Institute experts.
summer is over (atlantic mirage) Author: Hakim Mao, produced by Emma Binet and Charles Meres (Furyo Films, France)
Description: Late summer in Agadir. Eunice and Ismael have been inseparable since childhood, working at the Atlantic Mirage while selling their charms to tourists. They save money and dream of one day leaving. But one morning, Ismael disappears, and strange phenomena begin to appear in the ocean. Eunice sets out to solve the mystery of what happened to his friend.
Midpoint states: “We are delighted to be supporting a compelling, gripping story that uniquely blends themes and genres, set against the mysterious backdrop of cosmopolitan Agadir. Hakim Mao convinces with his strong artistic vision We are eager to help him make it a reality.
If the film is shot wholly or partly in the Swiss canton of Ticino, the Ticino Film Council Residency Award is awarded for a two-day location visit (worth CHF 4,000) and a letter of intent to provide financial support to the production company (worth up to CHF 12,000 ).
ithaca (ithaca) Author: Alessandro Grande, Produced by: Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimienti (dispàrte, Italy)
Synopsis: The film explores themes of identity and origin through the character of Sebastiano, who is kidnapped as an infant and meets his biological parents as an adult.
The jury stated: “The Ticino Cantonal Film Commission is proud to award the prize to the project “Ithaca”, in which the landscape plays an important role in expressing the violent rupture experienced by the young protagonist – kidnapped from his southern hometown and moved to the northern, mountainous, regions. We believe that with our support, the production team will be able to find the perfect location to recreate this touching real-life story and present it to a wider public.
Heritage Restoration Competition The winner will receive the complete restoration progress from Cinegrell, the film laboratory, and it will be screened at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival.
cannibals (cannibals1969) Liliana Cavani
Synopsis: The streets of a large city are littered with dead bodies claimed by the authorities. They are the bodies of citizens who were killed because they were seen as rebels, and are meant to serve as a warning. Antigone wants to bury her brother. A young foreigner helped. They were discovered and killed. But other young people followed their lead and took to the streets, continuing to bury the bodies and defy the authorities.
