The Locarno International Film Festival is one of the world’s prominent film festivals, taking place every year in Locarno, Switzerland. Established in 1946, it showcases a wide range of films across both competitive and non-competitive sections, including narrative features, documentaries, shorts, experimental works, and retrospectives. Earlier today the lineup for the 78th edition was announced. The fest will screen 221 films, including 99 world premieres. Jackie Chan is set to receive a lifetime achievement award, Emma Thompson will be honored with the Leopard Club Award, while Lucy Liu will be recognized with a career achievement accolade. The festival will take place August 6th-16th.
Here is this year’s festival lineup, including its main feature competition and several other notable sections.
Concorso Internazionale Program (competition lineup)
“As Estações (The Seasons)” by Maureen Fazendeiro – Portugal, France, Spain,
Austria – 2025
World premiere
“Bog Neće Pomoći (God Will Not Help)” by Hana Jušić – Croatia, Italy, Romania,
Greece, France, Slovenia – 2025
World premiere
“Donkey Days” by Rosanne Pel – Netherlands, Germany – 2025
World premiere
“Dracula” by Radu Jude – Romania, Austria, Luxembourg – 2025
World premiere
“Dry Leaf” by Alexandre Koberidze – Germany, Georgia – 2025
World premiere
“Le Bambine (Mosquitoes)” by Valentina Bertani, Nicole Bertani – Italy, Switzerland,
France – 2025
World premiere
“Le Lac” by Fabrice Aragno – Switzerland – 2025
World premiere
“Linije Želje (Desire Lines)” by Dane Komljen – Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Netherlands, Croatia, Germany – 2025
World premiere
“Mare’s Nest” by Ben Rivers – United Kingdom, France, Canada – 2025
World premiere
“Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due” by Abdellatif Kechiche – France – 2025
World premiere
“Sehnsucht in Sangerhausen (Phantoms of July)” by Julian Radlmaier –
Germany – 2025
World premiere
“Solomamma” by Janicke Askevold – Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland –
2025
World premiere
“Sorella Di Clausura by Ivana Mladenović” – Romania, Serbia, Italy, Spain – 2025
World premiere
“Tabi to Hibi (Two Seasons, Two Strangers)” by Sho Miyake – Japan – 2025
World premiere
“Tales of the Wounded Land” by Abbas Fahdel – Lebanon – 2025
World premiere
“White Snail” by Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter – Austria, Germany – 2025
World premiere
“With Hasan in Gaza” by Kamal Aljafari – Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar – 2025
World premiere
Fuori Concorso Program (out-of-competition lineup)
“Bobò” by Pippo Delbono – Italy – 2025
World premiere
“Deathstalker” by Steven Kostanski – Canada – 2025
World premiere
“E” by Anna Eriksson – Finland – 2025
World premiere
“Exile” by Mehdi Hmili – Tunisia, Luxembourg, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia – 2025
World premiere
“I Live Here Now” by Julie Pacino – USA – 2025
European premiere
“Il Vangelo die Giuda (Judas’ Gospel)” by Giulio Base – Italy, Poland – 2025
World premiere
“Keep Quiet” by Vincent Grashaw – USA – 2025
World premiere
“Kerouac’s road: the beat of a nation” by Ebs Burnough – United Kingdom, USA
– 2025
International premiere
“Le Chantier” by Jean-Stéphane Bron – France, Switzerland – 2025
World premiere
“Legend of the Happy Worker” by Duwayne Dunham – USA – 2025
World premiere
“Nova ’78” by Aaron Brookner, Rodrigo Areias – United Kingdom, Portugal – 2025
World premiere
“Silence” by Eduardo Casanova – Spain – 2025
World premiere
“Some Notes on the Current Situation” by Eran Kolirin – Israel – 2025
World premiere
“The Deal” by Jean-Stéphane Bron – Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium –
2025
World premiere
Episodes 3-6
Concorso Cineasti Del Presente Program
“Affection Affection” by Alexia Walther, Maxime Matray – France – 2025
World premiere
“Balearic” by Ion de Sosa – Spain, France – 2025
World premiere
“Becoming” by Zhannat Alshanova – France, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Lithuania,
Sweden – 2025
World premiere
“Blue Heron” by Sophy Romvari – Canada, Hungary – 2025
World premiere
“Don’t Let the Sun” by Jacqueline Zünd – Switzerland, Italy – 2025
World premiere
“Fantasy” by Kukla – Slovenia, North Macedonia – 2025
World premiere
“Folichonneries (Follies)” by Eric K. Boulianne – Canada – 2025
World premiere
“Gioia Mia (Sweetheart)” by Margherita Spampinato – Italy – 2025
World premiere
“Hijo Mayor” by Cecilia Kang – Argentina, France – 2025
World premiere
“Nu Mă Lăsa Să Mor (Don’t Let Me Die)” by Andrei Epure – Romania, Bulgaria,
France – 2025
World premiere
“Olivia” by Sofía Petersen – Argentina, United Kingdom, Spain – 2025
World premiere
“The Fin” by Park Syeyoung – South Korea, Germany, Qatar – 2025
World premiere
“The Plant From the Canaries” by Ruan Lan-Xi – Germany – 2025
World premiere
“Tóc, Giấy Và Nước… (Hair, Paper, Water…)” by Nicolas Graux, Trương Minh Quý –
Belgium, France, Vietnam – 2025
World premiere
“Un Balcon À Limoges (A Balcony in Limoges)” by Jérôme Reybaud – France –
2025
World premiere
Piazza Grande Program
“Le Pays D’arto (In the Land of Arto)” by Tamara Stepanyan
France, Armenia – 2025
World premiere
“The Birthday Party” by Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Greece, Spain, Netherlands, United Kingdom – 2025
World premiere
“The Dead of Winter” by Brian Kirk
USA, Germany – 2025
World premiere
“Together” by Michael Shanks
Australia, USA – 2025
Swiss premiere
“Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value)” by Joachim Trier
Norway, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden – 2025
Swiss premiere
“Police Story” by Jackie Chan
Hong Kong – 1985
“Testa O Croce? (Heads or Tails?)” by Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis
Italy, USA – 2025
Swiss premiere
“The Shining” by Stanley Kubrick
United Kingdom, USA – 1980
“The Deal” by Jean-Stéphane Bron
Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium – 2025
Swiss premiere
Episodes 1&2
“Irkalla Hulm Jijiljamish (Irkala – Gilgamesh’s Dream)” by Mohamed
Jabarah Al-Daradji
Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, France, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia – 2025
World premiere
“La Petite Dernière” by Hafsia Herzi
France, Germany – 2025
Swiss premiere
“Rosemead” by Eric Lin
USA – 2025
International premiere
“Un Simple Accident (It Was Just an Accident)” by Jafar Panahi
Iran, France, Luxembourg – 2025
Swiss premiere
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” by Bill Condon
USA, Uruguay – 2025
International premiere
Are you excited for the 2025 Locarno Film Festival? Will you be attending this year? Which films are you looking forward to seeing? Please let us know in the comments section below or on our X account.
