Locarno Film Festival unveils 79th edition with record submissions and star-powered programme
The Swiss festival returns 5–15 August with 7,759 entries (a 22% jump) and a Piazza Grande lineup featuring Olivia Wilde, Petra Volpe and James Gray, while Isabella Rossellini collects a lifetime award.
Record submissions for the 79th edition
The 79th Locarno Film Festival, running from 5 to 15 August, will screen 233 films from 69 countries, the festival’s leadership announced in Zurich on Thursday. A record 7,759 submissions were whittled down to the programme, a 22 percent increase on last year. Of those selected, 103 are world premieres, underscoring Locarno’s role as a launchpad for new cinema.
Competition and Swiss hopes
Seventeen films compete for the Golden Leopard in the Concorso Internazionale. Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro described a competition marked by “powerful storytelling, often focusing on families”. Among the contenders is “O Jacaré”, a Swiss-Portuguese coproduction from Lausanne-based Basil Da Cunha that closes a trilogy set in suburban Lisbon. The drama-thriller follows the fallout from a heist. The selection reflects a broad stylistic range, from intimate dramas to sprawling epics and comedies.
It is an adventurous selection full of surprises that confronts the challenges of the present without ever losing sight of the joy of storytelling and entertainment.
Living room under the stars: Piazza Grande
The open-air screenings on the Piazza Grande anchor the festival experience. The 2026 edition opens with “Les yeux verts” (The Green Eyes) by French duo Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, a drama poised between reality and dream about a refugee family. The programme also features Petra Volpe’s first English-language film, “Frank & Louis”, a prison friendship story that premiered at Sundance; Volpe’s previous work “Heldin” won four Swiss Film Awards. Olivia Wilde returns with “The Invite”, a relationship comedy she directs and stars in alongside Penélope Cruz, Seth Rogen and Edward Norton. James Gray’s “Paper Tiger”, fresh from Cannes, brings Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller and Adam Driver to the square. Wilde’s film is one of the most anticipated of the season, praised for its relentless humour. The Piazza Grande also hosts Dario Albertini’s “Armony” with Valerio Mastandrea and Asia Argento, Martin Provost’s “Love Lessons”, and classic revivals in the midnight “Second Screenings” slot.
- Opening night: 'Les yeux verts' by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh
- Olivia Wilde presents her comedy 'The Invite', also starring Penélope Cruz, Seth Rogen and Edward Norton
- Screening of James Gray's 'Paper Tiger' with Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller and Adam Driver
- Petra Volpe's first English-language film 'Frank & Louis' premieres after Sundance
Classics and a five-decade milestone
This year’s homage to cinema history includes David Lynch’s surreal road romance “Wild at Heart” (1990), Kevin Costner’s four-hour epic “Dances with Wolves”, and Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver”, which marks its 50th anniversary. Isabella Rossellini, who stars in Lynch’s film, will attend and receive the Excellence Award for her career.
Stargazing on the Lago Maggiore
Beyond Rossellini, the guest roster features Isabelle Huppert, Asia Argento, Virginie Efira and director Darren Aronofsky. Organisers teased that another high-profile name will be announced closer to the event. The festival closes on 15 August, wrapping up 11 days of cinema on the shores of Lake Maggiore.
