Tim Blake Nelson, actor, writer, director, producer, and long-time collaborator of the Coen brothers, Indian film producer Payal Kapadia (Everything we imagine is light), Italian actor Luca Marinelli (old guard) and Belgian producer Diana Erlbaum (Eller, green border) will serve as a judge for the main competition unit of the Locarno Film Festival together with Austrian director Jessica Hausner.
They will decide the winner of the Pardo d’Oro (Golden Leopard Award) at the 77th Swiss Film Festival Concorso Internazionale (International Competition), held from August 7 to 17.
Locarno organizers praised the jury line-up for including “some of the most unique voices in contemporary cinema.”
Nelson also starred in Vincent Glashow’s film Bang bangpremiered in the Fuori Concorso (out of competition) segment of Locarno 77.
Nigerian filmmaker CJ “Fiery” Obasi will be on the jury for the Pardo d’Oro — Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Contemporary Filmmakers) award, which recognizes the first or second feature film by an emerging director. Zhu Zhu story (2021) Screening at Locarno 74; French/Palestinian/Algerian filmmaker and actress Lina Soualem (Goodbye Tiberias); and the previous movie notebook Charles Tesson, editor, scholar and artistic director of Cannes Film Critics Week.
The jury responsible for recognizing the best short films in Locarno is Italian screenwriter, director and programmer Licia Eminenti; Malagasy curator, filmmaker, fashion designer and founder of the Madagascar Film Festival Laza Razanajatovo; and French producer Juliette Schrammaker (Have dinner, The worst person in the world, cold war).
Meanwhile, the winners of the Locarnos Watch First Feature Film Award will be Moroccan producer and director Khalil Benkirane, Finnish rising star Alma Pöysti (fallen leaves) and Swiss-Italian makeup designer Esmé Sciaroni (chimera).
Finally, the Pardo Verde honor will be selected by a jury composed of Swiss Rwandan artist, writer and director Kantarama Gahigiri. The award aims to recognize films that contribute to the issue of climate change; French programmer and film critic Cédric Succivalli; Swiss Sustainability Development consultant, journalist and arts manager Daniel Wiener.
“We are extremely honored to welcome these talented artists and programmers to Locarno and to entrust them with a film carefully selected by our selection committee from the thousands of films submitted to us,” Locarno Film Festival said artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro. “It is through their creative visions that this year’s Official Selection will be introduced to the world.”
