Locarno Film Festival Awards ‘Toxic’ by Saulė Bliuvaitė of Lithuania

Akiplėša (Toxic), the feature debut from Lithuanian writer and director Saulė Bliuvaitė that explores the human body and mysterious model agencies, is the winner of the Locarno Film Festival’s 2024 international competition, which was honored with the Pardo d’Oro, or Golden Leopard, in the Swiss town on Saturday. Locarno77 organizers called the movie “an incisive portrayal of teenage girls and the crushing expectations imposed upon them.”

Meanwhile, the special jury prize went to Iraq-born Austrian auteur Kurdwin Ayub for her sophomore fiction feature Mond (Moon). The film follows former martial artist Sarah who leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family. “It’s all about sisters, no matter where they come from, and about cages, no matter where they are,” according to Ayub.

Lithuania, which has a population of about three million people but was represented by two features in this year’s Locarno international competition, earned additional awards on Saturday. The best direction honor went to Laurynas Bareiša for Seses (Drowning Dry), about two sisters who experience a life-altering family tragedy. THR‘s review called the filmmaker’s second feature “subtle and haunting.”

Locarno also handed out its two best performance awards. One went to Drowning Dry stars Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela and Paulius Markevičius. The other was bestowed on Kim Minhee, the star of Hong Sangsoo’s Suyoocheon (By the Stream).

The international jury of Locarno77 was led by Austrian auteur Jessica Hausner and also included actor/ writer/director/producer Tim Blake Nelson, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light), Italian actor Luca Marinelli (Old Guard) and Belgian producer Diana Elbaum (Elle, Green Border).

Among other Locarno honors, the Golden Leopard in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente program, which puts the spotlight on first and second features, was awarded to Tato Kotetishvili’s Holy Electricity.

In the same section, the best performance Leopards were given out to Callie Hernandez (Alien: Covenant; La La Land) for her role in Courtney Stephens’ Invention, as well as Anna Mészöly for her role in Fekete Pont (Lesson Learned) from Hungarian director Bálint Szimler.

Two debut feature honors went to Toxic (Swatch First Feature Award), as well as Sylvie Ballyot’s Green Line (Mubi Award – Debut Feature).

Giona A. Nazzaro, the artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, lauded “a truly unique edition that marked once more what makes Locarno such a cherished festival, both with audiences worldwide and within the film industry. Creativity and hope for a better tomorrow were the elements that ran through all the sections. Cinema is a driving force, and Locarno is a flagship for it.”

He lauded the Locarno festival’s “ability to identify the most innovative talents in the business” and “the great attention our juries have paid to the most daring female auteurs.” Concluded Nazzaro: “Locarno77 has affirmed even more strongly the centrality of women’s voices in contemporary cinema.”

The fest’s closing night in the picturesque Swiss town’s Piazza Grande on Saturday will include ceremonies for the Prix du Public UBS and the Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award, plus the screening of the closing film Dog on Trial (Le Procès du chien) by Laetitia Dosch. 

Locarno 2024 featured honors for the likes of Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion, Swiss animator Claude Barras, independent film producer Stacey Sher, celebrated Star Wars and Indiana Jones sound designer Ben Burtt, as well as French actors Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, the stars of opening night film Le Déluge (The Flood) by Italian filmmaker Gianluca Jodice.

Locarno77 featured 225 films and more than 300 screenings, as well as the Columbia Pictures 100th anniversary retrospective “The Lady with the Torch.”

Here are the full winners of the 77th Locarno Film Festival.

Concorso Internazionale (International Competition)

Pardo d’Oro – Grand Prize of the Festival and City of Locarno
AKIPLĖŠA (TOXIC) by Saulė Bliuvaitė, Lithuania

Special Jury Prize – Cities of Ascona and Losone
MOND by Kurdwin Ayub, Austria

Pardo for Best Direction – City and Region of Locarno
Laurynas Bareiša for SESES (DROWNING DRY), Lithuania/Latvia

Pardo for Best Performance
Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela, Paulius Markevičius for SESES (DROWNING DRY) by Laurynas Bareiša, Lithuania/Latvia

Pardo for Best Performance
Kim Minhee for SUYOOCHEON (BY THE STREAM) by Hong Sangsoo, South Korea

Special Mentions
QING CHUN (KU) (YOUTH (HARD TIMES)) by WANG Bing, France/Luxembourg/Netherlands
SALVE MARIA (MOTHERS DON’T) by Mar Coll, Spain

Concorso Cineasti del Presente (for first and second features)

Pardo d’Oro – Concorso Cineasti del Presente
HOLY ELECTRICITY by Tato Kotetishvili, Georgia/Netherlands

Best Emerging Director Award – City and Region of Locarno
Denise Fernandes for HANAMI, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde

Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
KOUTÉ VWA (LISTEN TO THE VOICES) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste, Belgium/France/French Guiana

Pardo for Best Performance
Callie Hernandez for INVENTION by Courtney Stephens, USA

Pardo for Best Performance
to Anna Mészöly for FEKETE PONT (LESSON LEARNED) by Bálint Szimler, Hungary

Special Mentions
FEKETE PONT (LESSON LEARNED) by Bálint Szimler, Hungary
KADA JE ZAZVONIO TELEFON (WHEN THE PHONE RANG) by Iva Radivojević, Serbia/USA

Pardi di Domani (showcasing short and medium-length films focused on experimentation and innovative forms)

Concorso Corti d’Autore

Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film
UPSHOT by Maha Haj, Palestine/Italy/France

Special Mention
GWE-IN ESI JEONGCHE (THE MASKED MONSTER) by Syeyoung Park, South Korea

Locarno Film Festival Short Film Candidate – European Film Awards
LA FILLE QUI EXPLOSE by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, France

Concorso Internazionale

Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film
WASHHH by Mickey Lai, Malaysia/Ireland

Pardino d’Argento SRG SSR for the International Competition
GIMN CHUME (HYMN OF THE PLAGUE) by Ataka51, Germany/Russia

Pardi di Domani Best Direction Award – BONALUMI Engineering
QUE TE VAYA BONITO, RICO by Joel Alfonso Vargas, United Kingdom/USA

Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
THE FORM by Melika Pazouki, Iran

Special Mention
FREAK by Claire Barnett, USA

Concorso Nazionale

Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film
SANS VOIX by Samuel Patthey, Switzerland

Pardino d’Argento Swiss Life for the National Competition
BETTER NOT KILL THE GROOVE by Jonathan Leggett, Switzerland

Best Swiss Newcomer Award
Gabriel Grosclaude for LUX CARNE, Switzerland

Special Mention
PROGRESS MINING by Gabriel Böhmer, United Kingdom/Switzerland

First Feature

Swatch First Feature Award
AKIPLĖŠA (TOXIC) by Saulė Bliuvaitė, Lithuania

MUBI Award – Debut Feature
GREEN LINE by Sylvie Ballyot, France/Lebanon/Qatar

Special Mentions
HANAMI by Denise Fernandes, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde
KOUTÉ VWA (LISTEN TO THE VOICES) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste, Belgium/France/French Guiana

Pardo Verde (the Green Leopard for films from directors with a vision “linked to a new conception of humanity on planet Earth”)

supported by the Ente Regionale per lo Sviluppo del Locarnese e Vallemaggia

Pardo Verde
AGORA by Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia/France/Saudi Arabia/Qatar

Special Mentions
DER FLECK by Willy Hans, Germany/Switzerland
REVOLVING ROUNDS by Johann Lurf and Christina Jauernik, Austria