Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno (Italian: Festival del film Locarno) is an international film festival held annually in August in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Locarno is a film festival accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association). The main feature of the festival is the open-air screening area at the Piazza Grande with room for over 8,000 spectators, having one of the largest open-air screens in the world (26x14 metres).
The top prize of the Festival is the Golden Leopard awarded to the best film in the international competition. Other awards include the Leopard of Honour for outstanding career achievements, and the Prix du Public UBS, the public choice award.
The Locarno Film Festival is well known worldwide as a festival of discovery. Throughout its history the festival has discovered new trends and launched the careers of numerous directors and actors. Although the festival aims at the films, rather than at stars and glamour, several well-known personalities of the international film industry have visited the Locarno International Film Festival in recent years. To name just a few: Willem Dafoe, Terry Gilliam, Anthony Hopkins, Aki Kaurismäki, Abbas Kiarostami, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Gregg Araki, John Malkovich, Carmen Maura, Rose McGowan, Frank Oz, Quentin Tarantino, Penelope Cruz, Michel Piccoli, Robert Rodriguez, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Christian Slater, Alexander Sokurov, Wim Wenders, Gus Van Sant, Luc Besson, Christopher Lee, Edward Norton, Andy Garcia, Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and Faye Dunaway.