The 77th Locarno International Film Festival will be held from 7 August to 17 August, 2024, 17 films from around the world are competing for the Pardo d’Oro Award. According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, the 77th edition of the International Film Festival Locarno kicked off in the evening with the premiere of the French historical drama Le Déluge (The Flood) director by Gianluca Jodice. Thousands of spectators gathered for the open-air gala on the Piazza Grande of Locarno. 1792. Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their children have been arrested and imprisoned in the Tour du Temple, a sinister chateau in Paris, awaiting their trial. Far from the splendour of Versailles, they are isolated and vulnerable for the first. The 77th edition of this festival headed by Maja Hoffmann and with the artistic management of Giona A. Nazzaro in several competitive sections including; 17 films in the Concorso International competition, 15 films in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition, Pardi di domani competition including; 20 short films in the international competition, 10 short films in the Swiss National Cinema Competition and 10 short films in the Concorso Corti d’Autore competition, 11 feature films in the Fuori Concorso competition, 7 feature-length documentary films in the Semaine de la critique competition and several non-competitive sections including; 20 films in the Piazza Grande, 17 films in the Open Doors Screenings, 25 films in the Histoire du Cinéma, 10 films in the Panorama Suisse and also 14 films in the Locarno Kids Screenings section from the 7th to It will be held on August 17, 2024 in Locarno, Switzerland. Locarno International Film Festival focuses on world independent cinema and is considered the fourth most prestigious festival in the world after Cannes, Venice and Berlinale. Screening of the The Seed of the Sacred Fig in Piazza Grande square In this prestigious artistic event, which is known as one of the most important events of the author’s cinema in the world, the movie The Seed of the Sacred Fig, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, a joint product of Germany, France and Iran, and the winner of the special prize of the jury in the main competition from the 77th Cannes International Film Festival in France, it will be screened in the Piazza Grande of the open square Piazza Grande with a capacity of 8 thousand spectators in the city of Locarno. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is also in contention for the Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award. Jury members of the Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award The jury for the Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award will be made up of Letterboxd editorial staff and young accredited critics attending the festival, who will bring a fresh and cinephile perspective to the highly anticipated line-up of films featuring on one of the largest outdoor screens in the world. Jury members which are: Ella Kemp (Head of) – UK, Ena Alvarado – Venezuela, Amarsanaa Battulga – Mongolia, Tereza Dodoková – Slovakia Emerson Goo -USA, Esmé Holden – UK, and Öykü Sofuoğlu – Turkey. This is the first year that the Locarno Film Festival will partner with Letterboxd, the international social network for cinephiles, on an award given to new feature films premiering on the Piazza Grande. Over the past decade, Letterboxd has cemented its place as the preeminent social space for cinephiles to catalogue their viewing habits, create lists, and connect with film lovers from around the world. The award will be given to a film that combines both the values and artistic qualities of the contemporary cinephile landscape and commercial potential on the international festival circuit. Over the past decade, Letterboxd has cemented its place as the preeminent social space for cinephiles to catalogue their viewing habits, create lists, review films old and new, and connect with film lovers from around the world. The Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award will be given to a feature film showing on the Piazza Grande, the 8,000-seat outdoor cinema at the heart of Locarno, that combines both the values and artistic qualities of the cinephile landscape of today and commercial potential on the international festival circuit. Jury members of the main international competition Jury members of the Concorso internazionale (international competition) in the 77th Locarno International Film Festival, which are: Jessica Hausner, director – Austria – head of the jury, Diana Elbaum, a producer – Belgium, Payal Kapadia – India, Luca Marinelli, an actor – Italy, and Tim Blake Nelson, an actor, writer, director, and producer – United States; The Pardo d’Oro Award for Best Film, the Special Jury Award, as well as the Best Director Award and the Best Actor Awards are given to the winners of this category. Jury members of the Filmmakers of the Present The members of the jury of the Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Filmmakers of the Present), who are present in this film event with their first or second feature film, are: C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, a filmmaker, Nigeria – head of the jury, Lina Soualem, a filmmaker and actress – France, Palestine, Algeria, and Charles Tesson, a film critic – France. Jury members of the Leopards of Tomorrow competition The jury members of the Pardi di domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) in this period of the festival are: Licia Eminenti, a scriptwriter, director and programmer – Italy, Laza Razanajatovo, a filmmaker and curator – Madagascar, and Juliette Schrameck, a producer – France. Jury members of the First Feature competition The jury members of the First Films competition section at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival are: Khalil Benkirane, a director and producer – Morocco, Alma Pöysti, actress – Finland, and Esmé Sciaroni, Make-up Designer – Switzerland, Italy. Jury members of the Pardo Verde competition The jury members of the Pardo Verde competition with the theme of climate crisis are: Kantarama Gahigiri, artist, writer and director – Switzerland, Rwanda, Cédric Succivalli, programmer and film critic – France, Daniel Wiener, sustainability adviser, journalist, and arts manager – Switzerland. Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfonso Cuarón The Lifetime Achievement Award, the Locarno Film Festival’s tribute to film personalities with extraordinary careers, will be given this year to five-time Academy Award-winning Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. He will receive the award on Sunday, August 11 in Piazza Grande. Jane Campion to Receive the Pardo d’Onore Manor Award The Locarno Film Festival’s Pardo d’Onore Manor, the award for outstanding achievement in cinema, will be given to Jane Campion, the internationally acclaimed filmmaker from New Zealand, on the evening of Friday 16 August. Excellence Award Davide Campari to Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet The Excellence Award Davide Campari, given to film personalities with extraordinary careers, this year go to beloved French stars Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet. This award was given on the opening night of the festival, August 7. Commemoration of some famous figures of world cinema During the days of the Locarno film festival, the officials of this film event included a number of prominent figures in world cinema, including; Shah Rukh Khan for the Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism, Jane Campion for the Pardo d’Onore Manor, Ben Burtt for the Vision Award Ticinomoda, Claude Barras for the Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare, Stacey Sher for the Raimondo Rezzonico Award, and Irène Jacob for the Leopard Club Award.