Golden Leopard
Highest award given to a film at the Locarno Film Festival
The Golden Leopard (Italian: Pardo d'oro) is the top prize at the Locarno Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be entered in the competitive selection. The winning films are chosen by a jury.
Among its winners are René Clair, Roberto Rossellini, John Ford, Otto Preminger, Michelangelo Antonioni, Stanley Kubrick, Kon Ichikawa, Miloš Forman, Glauber Rocha, Raúl Ruiz, Mike Leigh, Jim Jarmusch, Terence Davies, Claire Denis, Jafar Panahi, Jean-Claude Brisseau, Albert Serra, Lav Diaz, Hong Sang-soo, Wang Bing, and Pedro Costa.
01History
The award went under many names until it was named the Golden Leopard in 1968. The festival was not held in 1951 and the prize was not awarded in 1956 and 1982.
For the first two years the award was known as Best Film (Miglior film). Then for several years the award went by the name of Grand Prize (Gran premio). In 1950 and 1952 the award was from the International Jury of Journalists (Giuria internazionale dei giornalisti); in 1953 and 1954 the award was from the International Jury of Critics (Giuria internazionale della critica); in 1955 the award was from the Jury of Swiss-Italian Radio (Giuria della Radio della Svizzera Italiana); in 1957 the award was from the Jury of the Swiss Association of Cinematographic Press (Giuria dell'Associazione Svizzera della stampa cinematografica). In 1958 and 1960-65 the award was the Golden Sail (Vela d'oro). In 1959 it was the Prize for Best Direction (Premio per la migliore regia). In 1966 and 1967 the prize was the Grand Prize of the Jury of Youth (Gran premio della Giuria dei giovani). Finally, it became the Golden Leopard in 1968.
Soviet filmmaker Svetlana Proskurina was the first woman to win the prize at the 43rd edition, for Accidental Waltz (1990). While René Clair is the only director to have won the award twice, winning in the first two years of the festival.
02Winners
1940s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | And Then There Were None | René Clair | United States | ||
| 1947 | Man About Town | Le silence est d'or | René Clair and Robert Pirosh | France, United States | |
| 1948 | Germany Year Zero | Germania, anno zero | Roberto Rossellini | Italy, France, Germany | |
| 1949 | The Farm of Seven Sins | La ferme des sept péchés | Jean Devaivre | France | |
1950s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | When Willie Comes Marching Home | John Ford | United States | ||
| 1952 | Hunted | Charles Crichton | United Kingdom | ||
| 1953 | Julius Caesar | David Bradley | United States | ||
| The Composer Glinka | Композитор Глинка | Grigori Aleksandrov | Soviet Union | ||
| The Glass Wall | Maxwell Shane | United States | |||
| 1954 | Gate of Hell | 地獄門 | Teinosuke Kinugasa | Japan | |
| The Sheep Has Five Legs | Le mouton à cinq pattes | Henri Verneuil | France, United States | ||
| Rotation | Wolfgang Staudte | East Germany | |||
| 1955 | Carmen Jones | Otto Preminger | United States | ||
| The Emperor's Nightingale | Císařův slavík | Jiří Trnka | Czechoslovakia | ||
| 1957 | Il grido | Michelangelo Antonioni | Italy, United States | ||
| 1958 | Ten North Frederick | Philip Dunne | United States | ||
| 1959 | Killer's Kiss | Stanley Kubrick | |||
1960s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Il bell'Antonio | Mauro Bolognini | Italy | ||
| 1961 | Fires on the Plain | 野火 | Kon Ichikawa | Japan | |
| 1962 | The Winner | Un cœur gros comme ça | François Reichenbach | France | |
| 1963 | Transport from Paradise | Transport z ráje | Zbyněk Brynych | Czechoslovakia | |
| 1964 | Black Peter | Černý Petr | Miloš Forman | ||
| 1965 | Four in the Morning | Anthony Simmons | United Kingdom | ||
| 1966 | Everyday Courage | Každý den odvahu | Evald Schorm | Czechoslovakia | |
| 1967 | Entranced Earth | Terra em Transe | Glauber Rocha | Brazil | |
| 1968 | The Visionaries | I visionari | Maurizio Ponzi | Italy | |
| 1969 | Charles, Dead or Alive | Charles mort ou vif | Alain Tanner | Switzerland | |
| Those Who Wear Glasses | Szemüvegesek | Sándor Simó | Hungary | ||
| Three Sad Tigers | Tres tristes tigres | Raoul Ruiz | Chile | ||
| No Path Through Fire | В огне брода нет | Gleb Panfilov | Soviet Union | ||
1970s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | End of the Road | Aram Avakian | United States | ||
| Lilika | Лилика | Branko Pleša | Yugoslavia | ||
| This Transient Life | 無常 | Akio Jissoji | Japan | ||
| Soleil O | Med Hondo | Mauritania, France | |||
| 1971 | They Have Changed Their Face | Hanno cambiato faccia | Corrado Farina | Italy | |
| On the Point of Death | In punto di morte | Mario Garriba | |||
| The Friends | Les amis | Gérard Blain | France | ||
| Private Road | Barney Platts-Mills | United Kingdom | |||
| Signs on the Road | Znaki na drodze | Andrzej Jerzy Piotrowski | Poland | ||
| Mexico: The Frozen Revolution | México, la revolución congelada | Raymundo Gleyzer | Argentina | ||
| 1972 | Bleak Moments | Mike Leigh | United Kingdom | ||
| 1973 | The Illumination | Iluminacja | Krzysztof Zanussi | Poland | |
| 1974 | 25 Fireman's Street | Tűzoltó utca 25. | István Szabó | Hungary | |
| 1975 | The Son of Amir Is Dead | Le fils d'Amr est mort | Jean-Jacques Andrien | Belgium, France, Tunisia | |
| 1976 | The Big Night | Le grand soir | Francis Reusser | Switzerland | |
| 1977 | Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison | Antonio Gramsci: i giorni del carcere | Lino Del Fra | Italy | |
| 1978 | The Idlers of the Fertile Valley | Οι Τεμπέληδες της εύφορης κοιλάδας | Nikos Panayotopoulos | Greece | |
| 1979 | The Herd | Sürü | Zeki Ökten and Yılmaz Güney | Turkey | |
1980s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | To Love the Damned | Maledetti vi amerò | Marco Tullio Giordana | Italy | |
| 1981 | The Vicious Circle | Chakra | Rabindra Dharmaraj | India | |
| 1983 | The Princess | Adj király katonát! | Pál Erdöss | Hungary | |
| 1984 | Stranger Than Paradise | Jim Jarmusch | United States, West Germany | ||
| 1985 | Alpine Fire | Höhenfeuer | Fredi M. Murer | Switzerland | |
| 1986 | Lake of Constance | Jezioro Bodeńskie | Janusz Zaorski | Poland | |
| 1987 | The Jester | O Bobo | José Álvaro Morais | Portugal | |
| 1988 | Distant Voices, Still Lives | Terence Davies | United Kingdom | ||
| Schmetterlinge | Wolfgang Becker | West Germany | |||
| 1989 | Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? | 달마가 동쪽으로 간 까닭은? | Bae Yong-kyun | South Korea | |
1990s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Accidental Waltz | Случайный вальс | Svetlana Proskurina | Soviet Union | |
| 1991 | Johnny Suede | Tom DiCillo | France, United States, Switzerland | ||
| 1992 | Autumn Moon | 秋月 | Clara Law | Hong Kong, Japan | |
| 1993 | The Place on a Grey Tricorne | Azghyin ushtykzyn'azaby | Yermek Shinarbayev | Kazakhstan | |
| 1994 | Khomreh | خمره | Ebrahim Forouzesh | Iran | |
| 1995 | Raï | Thomas Gilou | France | ||
| 1996 | Nenette and Boni | Nénette et Boni | Claire Denis | France | |
| 1997 | The Mirror | آینه | Jafar Panahi | Iran | |
| 1998 | Mr. Zhao | 趙先生 | Lü Yue | China, Hong Kong | |
| 1999 | Skin of Man, Heart of Beast | Peau d’homme, cœur de bête | Hélène Angel | France | |
2000s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Father | 冤家父子 | Wang Shuo | China | |
| 2001 | Off to the Revolution by a 2CV | Alla rivoluzione sulla due cavalli | Maurizio Sciarra | Italy | |
| 2002 | The Longing | Das Verlangen | Iain Dilthey | Germany | |
| 2003 | Khamosh Pani | خاموش پانی | Sabiha Sumar | Pakistan, France, Germany | |
| 2004 | Private | Saverio Costanzo | Italy | ||
| 2005 | Nine Lives | Rodrigo García | United States | ||
| 2006 | Das Fräulein | Andrea Štaka | Switzerland, Germany | ||
| 2007 | The Rebirth | 愛の予感 | Masahiro Kobayashi | Japan | |
| 2008 | Parque Vía | Enrique Rivero | Mexico | ||
| 2009 | She, a Chinese | Xiaolu Guo | United Kingdom, France, Germany, China | ||
2010s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Winter Vacation | 寒假 | Hongqi Li | China | |
| 2011 | Back to Stay | Abrir puertas y ventanas | Milagros Mumenthaler | Argentina, Switzerland, Netherlands | |
| 2012 | The Girl from Nowhere | La fille de nulle part | Jean-Claude Brisseau | France | |
| 2013 | Story of My Death | Història de la meva mort | Albert Serra | Spain, France | |
| 2014 | From What Is Before | Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon | Lav Diaz | Philippines | |
| 2015 | Right Now, Wrong Then | 지금은 맞고 그때는 틀리다 | Hong Sang-soo | South Korea | |
| 2016 | Godless | Безбог | Ralitza Petrova | Bulgaria, Denmark, France | |
| 2017 | Mrs. Fang | 方绣英 | Wang Bing | China, France, Germany | |
| 2018 | A Land Imagined | 幻土 | Yeo Siew Hua | Singapore, France, Netherlands | |
| 2019 | Vitalina Varela | Pedro Costa | Portugal | ||
2020s
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash | Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas | Edwin | Indonesia, Singapore, Germany | |
| 2022 | Rule 34 | Regra 34 | Júlia Murat | Brazil, France | |
| 2023 | Critical Zone | منطقه بحرانی | Ali Ahmadzadeh | Iran, Germany | |
| 2024 | Toxic | Akiplėša | Saulė Bliuvaitė | Lithuania | |
| 2025 | Two Seasons, Two Strangers | 旅と日々 | Sho Miyake | Japan | |
| 2026 | You Don't Belong Here | Nu e locul tau aici | Florin Șerban | Romania |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Golden Leopard”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Director Florin Șerban at the 79th Locarno Film Festival 2026 02 (cropped).jpg by Kalai Ramu, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Roberto Rossellini.jpg by newspaper press photo, Rome, Italy, Public domain
- John Ford 1946 (zoom).jpg by Los Angeles Daily News, Public domain
- Otto Preminger 4 Allan Warren.jpg by Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Michelangelo Antonioni portrait (cropped).jpg by Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public domain
- Stanley Kubrick in Dr. Strangelove Trailer (4) Cropped.jpg by Columbia Pictures (Q186941), Public domain
- Kon Ichikawa.jpg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
- Miloš Forman (Reykjavik, 2009) (cropped).jpg by Alinoe, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Glauber Rocha, sem data.jpg by UnknownUnknown, Public domain
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