The Lithuanian drama Toxic (Akiplėša) by Saulė Bliuvaitė is the winner of the Grand Prize, Golden Leopard, Pardo d’Oro of the International Competition (Concorso Internazionale) at the 77th Locarno Film Festival. The coming-of-age film follows two 13-year-olds who form a unique bond at a local modeling school, where the promise of a better life pushes girls to violate their bodies in increasingly extreme ways.

Director Saulė Bliuvaitė said, “Through the story of young girls navigating toxic landscapes, I wanted to explore the concept of the human body – the body as a project, currency, an object of desire, the body as a source of pain and magic.”

Also, in the International Competition, Kurdwin Ayub’s Mond won the Special Jury Prize, while the Pardo for Best Direction went to Laurynas Bareiša for Drowning Dry (Seses).

The two Best Performance Awards were given respectively to Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela, and Paulius Markevičius for Drowning Dry (Seses) and to Kim Minhee, star of Hong Sangsoo’s By the Stream(Suyoocheon). The Pardo d’Oro in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente (cinema of tomorrow, for first and second features) was awarded to Tato Kotetishvili’s Holy Electricity.

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival: “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. We are truly proud of this edition and grateful for the tremendous team effort behind its success. The victory of newcomer Saulė Bliuvaitė, whose Akiplėša won the Pardo d’Oro and the Swatch First Feature Award, confirms the Locarno Film Festival’s ability to identify the most innovative talents in the business. And it is also proof, along with the Special Jury Prize to Kurdwin Ayub’s Mond, the MUBI Award – Debut Feature to Sylvie Ballyot’s Green Line, or even the Best Emerging Director Award in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente to Denise Fernandes from Ticino (Hanami), of the great attention our juries have paid to the most daring female auteurs. Locarno77 has affirmed even more strongly the centrality of women’s voices in contemporary cinema.”

Update

The Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker Klaudia Reynicke’s Reinas took home the prestigious award Prix du Public UBS for her tender ‘90s-set family drama; and Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s panoramic Argentinian documentary Gaucho Gaucho was crowned the winner of the first Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award.

Winners of 2024 Locarno Film Festival

Concorso Internazionale

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
to Laurynas Bareiša for SESES (DROWNING DRY), Lithuania/Latvia

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

Pardo for Best Performance
to 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 by Mar Coll, Spain

Concorso Cineasti del Presente

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

Best Emerging Director Award – City and Region of Locarno
to 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
to 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

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
to 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

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