Thematically and aesthetically, many films at this year’s Locarno Film Festival ventured outside of the usual and the consensus — a tendency reflected in the list of award winners, recognising audacious and poetic productions. On the highest step of the podium at the 76th edition of the festival was Critical Zone [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], the third feature film from Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh who, because of his political positions powerfully expressed in the film, has not been able to leave his country to go to Locarno. The subversive power of Critical Zone, focused on a group of young people yearning for freedom, seduced the jury headed by the French actor Lambert Wilson.

“The palmarès is the sign of a lively and restless cinema, capable of grasping the complexities of the present and engaging in a strong and motivated dialogue with the public,” stated the festival’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro. Proof of this are two films which, together with the Golden Leopard winner, raised themselves onto the podium of the International Competition. The first is Stepne [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (Leopard for Best Direction), the feature debut from Ukrainian director Maryna Vroda who searched her country’s past for links to an uncertain and frightening present. Stepne has also won the FIPRESCI award.

The second is Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World [+lee también:
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entrevista: Radu Jude
ficha de la película] by Romanian director Radu Jude, one of the favourite films of this edition, crowned with the Special Jury Prize. Provocative right from its title, this film both ambitious and extremely free is a social critique not without irony. In the same competition, the French/Swizz co-production Obscure Night - Goodbye Here, Anywhere [+lee también:
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entrevista: Sylvain George
ficha de la película], by Sylvain George, which follows in severe and majestic black-and-white a group of young migrants waiting to reach Europe, won a Special Mention. The Leopards for Best Performance recognised two powerful, almost visceral portrayals, that of Dimitra Vlagopoulou in Animal [+lee también:
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entrevista: Sofia Exarchou
ficha de la película] by Sofia Exarchou, and that of Renée Soutendijk in Sweet Dreams [+lee también:
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entrevista: Ena Sendijarević
ficha de la película] by Ena Sendijarević.

In the Cineasti del presente competition, meanwhile, the biggest awards recognised the inventiveness of two your directors on their first experience with the feature-length format: Nelson Yeo (Golden Leopard in the Cineasti del Presente Competition) and Katharina Huber (Award for Best Emerging Director). The former, born in Singapore, is already a well-known figure at the festival, having participated in the Locarno Fikmmakers Academy in 2018. Beside the Golden Leopard in the Cineasti del presente Competition, his film Dreaming & Dying also received the Swatch First Feature Award (award for best debut feature). Katharina Huber, awarded for A Good Place [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], won the Award for Best Emerging Director but also the Leopard for Best Performance, handed out to Clara Schwinning. The Award is shared with actors Isold Halldórudóttir and Stavros Zafeiris for their intense interpretations in Touched [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] from German director Claudia Rosarius. Completing the palmarès, Camping du Lac [+lee también:
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entrevista: Éléonore Saintagnan
ficha de la película], the somewhat surreal story of an impromptu holiday that holds many surprises, by the French director living in Brussels Éléonore Saintagnan, won the CINE+ Special Jury Prize, while Special Mentions went to the audacious films Excursion [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] from Sarajevo-born director Una Gunjak and Negu hurbilak [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] from Spain’s Colectivo Negu, both of them feature debuts. 

As for the Piazza Grande it was once more Ken Loach, following his 2016 win with I, Daniel Blake [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], who won the hearts of the audience, winning the Prix du Public UBS for The Old Oak [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]. Still in the Piazza Grande section, Guardians of the Formula [+lee también:
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entrevista: Dragan Bjelogrlić
ficha de la película] from Serbian actor, director and producer Dragan Bjelogrlić, won the Pardo Verde Ricola award as well as the Variety Piazza Grande Award. The film, set in 1985 during the Cold War, shows the tensions and paradoxes of a historical moment still vivid in the minds of many.  

The full list of awards:

International Competition

Golden Leopard
Critical Zone [+lee también:
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Special Jury Prize
Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World [+lee también:
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entrevista: Radu Jude
ficha de la película] - Radu Jude (Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia)

Leopard for Best Direction
Maryna Vroda - Stepne [+lee también:
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Leopard for Best Performance
Dimitra Vlagopoulou - Animal [+lee también:
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entrevista: Sofia Exarchou
ficha de la película] (Greece/Austria/Romania/Cyprus/Bulgaria)
Renée Soutendijk - Sweet Dreams [+lee también:
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entrevista: Ena Sendijarević
ficha de la película] (the Netherlands/Switzerland/Indonesia/France)

Special Mention
Obscure Night - Goodbye Here, Anywhere [+lee también:
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entrevista: Sylvain George
ficha de la película] - Sylvain George (France/Switzerland)

Cineasti del presente Competition

Golden Leopard
Dreaming & Dying - Nelson Yeo (Singapore/Indonesia)

Award for Best Emerging Director from the City and Region of Locarno
Katharina Huber - A Good Place [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] (Germany)

Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
Camping du lac [+lee también:
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entrevista: Éléonore Saintagnan
ficha de la película] - Éléonore Saintagnan (Belgium/France)

Leopard for Best Performance
Clara Schwinning - A Good Place [+lee también:
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Isold Halldórudóttir, Stavros Zafeiris - Touched [+lee también:
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Special Mentions
Excursion [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Una Gunjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia/France/Norway/Qatar)
Negu hurbilak [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Colectivo Negu (Spain)

Pardi di domani Competitions

International Competition

Golden Leopard SRG SSR for Best International Short Film
A Study of Empathy - Hilke Rönnfeldt (Denmark/Germany)

Silver Leopard SRG SSR for the International Competition
Du bist so wunderbar - Leandro Goddinho, Paulo Menezes (Germany/Brazil)

Best Direction Award Pardi di domani – BONALUMI Engineering
Eric K. Boulianne - Faire un enfant (Canada)

Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
The Guard - Amirhossein Shojaei (Iran)

National Competition

Golden Leopard Swiss Life for Best Swiss Short Film
Letzte Nacht - Lea Bloch (Switzerland)

Silver Leopard Swiss Life for the National Competition
Night Shift - Kayije Kagame, Hugo Radi (Switzerland)

Best Swiss Newcomer Award
Letzte Nacht - Lea Bloch (Switzerland)

Corti d’autore Competition

Golden Leopard Swiss Life for Best Auteur Short Film
The Passing - Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan (USA)

Special Mention and Locarno Film Festival short selected for the European Film Awards
Been There - Corina Schwingruber Ilić (Switzerland)

Semaine de la critique

Grand Prix Semaine de la critique – Prix SRG SSR
Monogamia – Ohad Milstein (Israel)

Marco Zucchi Award
Les premiers jours - Stéphane Breton (France)

Zonta Club Locarno Award
Les sœurs Pathan - Eléonore Boissinot (France)

Other awards

Swatch First Feature Award (Award for Best Feature Debut)
Dreaming & Dying - Nelson Yeo (Singapore/Indonesia)

UBS Audience Award
The Old Oak [+lee también:
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Variety Piazza Grande Award
Guardians of the Formula [+lee también:
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entrevista: Dragan Bjelogrlić
ficha de la película] - Dragan Bjelogrlić (Serbia/ Slovenia/ Montenegro)

Pardo Verde
Guardians of the Formula - Dragan Bjelogrlić
Special Mentions
Procida [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - film directed by the participants of the Film Atelier Procida (Italy)
Valley Pride - Lukas Marxt (Austria/Germany) (short film)

Label Europa Cinemas
Yannick [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Quentin Dupieux (Francia)

FIPRESCI Award
Stepne - Maryna Vroda

Ecumenical Award
Patagonia [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Simone Bozzelli (Italy)
Special Mention
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World - Radu Jude