Locarno Film Festival 2026

Conversations fall silent, thousands of people turn their gaze towards the giant screen. Then the lights go out. The leopard glides across Piazza Grande with its unmistakable roar — a ritual that has announced the beginning of every film evening for decades. Moments later, a new story begins. From 5 to 15 August 2026, Locarno will once again become a meeting point for the international film world.

With 233 films from 69 countries, including 103 world premieres, the 79th edition once again presents a programme of extraordinary diversity. As a festival of discovery, the Locarno Film Festival has always built bridges between renowned filmmakers, independent voices and emerging talents — bringing them together with a curious audience.

The heart of the festival beats once again this year on Piazza Grande. World, Swiss and European premieres meet big names and film classics here. The programme includes, among others, the opening film Les Yeux Verts by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, Petra Volpe’s Frank & Louis, James Gray’s Paper Tiger with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, as well as Olivia Wilde’s The Invite with Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton. With Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, two milestones of film history also return to the big screen.

One of the most prominent guests of this year’s edition is undoubtedly Isabella Rossellini. The Italian-American actress, filmmaker and style icon will receive the Excellence Award and, in a public conversation, offer insights into her extraordinary career. For decades, she has moved effortlessly between European auteur cinema and international productions — an artistic openness that reflects the festival’s self-image in a particularly meaningful way. As part of the tribute, David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, in which Isabella Rossellini appears alongside Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, will be screened on Piazza Grande.

A different facet of cinema is brought into the spotlight by Rick Baker. The American make-up artist and seven-time Oscar winner will receive the Vision Award for his lifetime achievement. Whether Michael Jackson’s transformation in the legendary music video Thriller, Jim Carrey as the Grinch or the revolutionary effects in An American Werewolf in London — Baker’s make-up and special effects have shaped the imagination of entire generations and expanded the understanding of what is possible on screen. With screenings of An American Werewolf in London and The Nutty Professor, Locarno honours an artist who usually worked behind the scenes and yet left a lasting mark on cinema.

Even before the first film flickers across the screen, the festival makes a visual statement. This year’s official poster is by American photographic artist Cindy Sherman, who reinterprets the iconic leopard in her unmistakable visual language. Between masquerade, identity and transformation, the motif becomes a homage to the power of images — and to cinema itself.

For the first time at Locarno79, young audiences will have a competition of their own. In the new Locarno Kids section, international feature and family films compete for the Locarno Kids Award, decided by a jury of 11- to 15-year-olds. The new category underlines the festival’s ambition not only to celebrate the history of cinema, but also to help shape its future.

Between film history and new perspectives, world premieres and classics, big names and bold discoveries, the Locarno Film Festival once again shows what has defined it for almost eight decades. When the lights go out on Piazza Grande, it is not simply a film screening that begins. It is one of those summer evenings that remain in memory long after the credits have rolled.

Locarno Film Festival 2026

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