Piazza Grande in Locarno Courtesy of Locarno Film Festival/Migliorato The Locarno International Film Festival on Thursday unveiled the lineup for its 79th edition, and it includes the latest films from the likes of South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo (Right Now, Wrong Then), a former Golden Leopard winner at the fest and past Locarno award winner Nelson Yeo (Dreaming & Dying) from Singapore in the international competition program. Also part of the lineup is a new movie from Spain’s Albert Serra (Afternoons of Solitude) in an out-of-competition spot.
Locarno 2026, taking place Aug. 5-15, will also present new works from U.S. filmmakers Erin Vassilopoulos (Superior) and Vincent Grashaw (Keep Quiet), Senegal’s Mamadou Dia (Demba), Portugal’s Edgar Pêra (Telepathic Letters), Canada’s Denis Côté (Vic and Flo Saw a Bear) and Wayne Wapeemukwa (Luk’Luk’I).
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Meanwhile, world premieres, some of this season’s film festival favorites and classics will screen in Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section, taking place on the town’s main square set up with 8,000 seats. World premieres to be watched there include Ni Vue, Ni Connue (All About Corinne) by Marc Fitoussi, starring Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Bercot and Diane Kruger, Felix Randau’s Ich Ist ein Anderer (I Is Another) with Claes Bang, Valerie Pachner and Susanne Wuest, and Armony by Dario Albertini, whose cast includes Asia Argento and Ornella Muti.
“Returning to Locarno with The House on the Moon feels like the stars have aligned,” said Yeo in a statement. “A few years ago, this felt like reaching for the moon — and we have. I’m so grateful to our fantastic cast and crew for embarking on this journey with me and bringing a childhood dream to life.”
Overall, the fest will screen 223 films, including 103 world premieres, four more than last year. The films originate from “up to 69 countries of production and co‑production,” organizers said. Locarno also highlighted a record 7,759 submissions, up nearly 22 percent from 2025.
Locarno disclosed that 25 percent of its features were directed by women, including five out of 17 films in the international competition, or 29.4 percent.
Giona A. Nazzaro, Locarno’s artistic director, described the program this way: “An adventurous selection, full of surprises, which tackles the challenges of the present without ever sacrificing the pleasures of storytelling and entertainment.”
He added: “Ours is a selection of films deliberately set against the complexities of the present day, which explores and reflects on the transformations currently taking place within cinema and in the wider audiovisual sector. Cinema, then — in all its forms and possibilities. A cinema that curiously explores genres and styles in search of that spark of the future we all need.”
Check out the Locarno film festival’s lineup for its main feature competition and other key sections below:
Concorso Internazionale (International Competition) A MARGEM DO RIO (THE RIVERBANK) by Matheus Farias, Enock Carvalho Brazil, Germany – 2026 Caique Copque, Ítalo Martins, Artia Lauandah, Renna Costa, Robério Diógenes, Ísis Broken World premiere
ALBERI ERRANTI (WANDERING TREES) by Salvatore Mereu Italy – 2026 Romeo Perrone, Giulia Maenza, Lorenzo Richelmy, Lupo Barbiero, Edoardo Raiola World premiere
BRAVE NEW LOVE by Maria Bäck Denmark, Sweden, Greece – 2026 Kathrine Thorborg Johansen, Anders Danielsen Lie, Simon Sears, Noemi Carbone Mannov, Angeliki Papoulia World premiere
D’ICI LÀ by Sarah Leonor France – 2026 Frank Beauvais, Dinara Droukarova, Louiza Aura, Dimitri Doré, Laetitia Dosch, JeanLouis Scheidecker, Fatou Dicko, Adrien Michaux, David Faivre World premiere
I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING by Isabelle Stever Germany, Ukraine – 2026 Tania Myronyshena, Markus Bright, Iryna Mak, Viktor Zhdanov, Maiia Sobolevska, Maria Myronyshena, Oleksandr Rudynskyi World premiere
KETTICÈ by Giovanni Tortorici Italy – 2026 Salvatore Gallina, Rachele Testagrossa, Monica Bellucci World premiere
LEJOS DE LOS ÁRBOLES (FAR FROM THE TREES) by Meritxell Colell Aparicio Spain, Peru, Italy – 2026 Angélica Castelló, Jose Luis López Cama, Teresita Sánchez, Caterina Ramirez Guallar World premiere
MANHUNT by Wayne Wapeemukwa Canada – 2026 Harris Lowe, Landon Tunold, Bianca Foscht, Dilara Foscht World premiere
NU E LOCUL TAU AICI (YOU DON’T BELONG HERE) by Florin Șerban Romania – 2026 Adrian Văncică, Teodor Butănescu, Cristina Richter, Alex Conovaru, Izdrailă Janir World premiere
NUN DUL DEGA EOMNE (NOWHERE TO LAY MY EYES) by Hong Sangsoo South Korea – 2026 Kim Minhee, Choi Myeonggil, Kwon Haehyo, Shin Seokho, Park Miso World premiere
O JACARÉ by Basil Da Cunha Switzerland, Portugal – 2026 Alexandra Sena, Alexandre Fonseca, Paulo César Lima Fonseca, Nelson Carvalho, Pedro Diniz, Heidir Correia, Carlos Fonseca, Pedro Ferreira, Frederico Lopes, Verónica Lii, Maria Santos, Susana Costa, Ivo Bernardo, Carloto Cotta, Filipe Vargas World premiere
OBJET A by Ann Oren Germany, Luxembourg, Greece – 2026 Aenne Schwarz, Louis Hofmann, Simone Bucio, Georg Friedrich, Sofia Kokkali World premiere
PRINCESA BURRO (DONKEY PRINCESS) by Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña Chile, France, Uruguay, Netherlands, Germany – 2026 Antonia Giesen, Andrew Bargsted, Francisco Melo World premiere
REHMAT by Gurvinder Singh India, France – 2026 Naseeruddin Shah, Suvinder Vicky, Diya Kamboj, Mita Vasisht, Harwinder Aujla, Jaswant Zafar, Navjot Randhawa, Anita Meet, Inder Bajwa, Sahej Aziz, Jasmanpreet Singh, Kavnoor Kaur World premiere
THE HOUSE ON THE MOON by Nelson Yeo Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, Indonesia – 2026 Shi-An Lim, Akira Huang, Harry Chang, Dominick Rustam, Lee Kang-sheng World premiere
THÍNH GIÁC (HEARING) by Lê Bảo Vietnam, Singapore, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan – 2026 Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn, Ngọc Tản, Vân Hà, Chí Linh, Khánh Huyền World premiere
VIOLENCE DU CORPS DE L’AUTRE (NOBODY’S VIOLENCE) by Denis Côté Canada – 2026 Larissa Corriveau, Philippe Rebbot, Xavier Bergeron, Gabrielle Lazure, Pierrette Robitaille World premiere
Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Filmmakers of the Present Competition, for first and second features) AT NIGHT by Beatrice Gibson United Kingdom, France – 2026 World premiere
DEMONY (DEMONS) by Natalka Vorozhbyt Ukraine, Poland – 2026 World premiere
DESTROY ALL GIRLS by Erin Vassilopoulos USA – 2026 World premiere
EGO REACH WE ALL (OUR TIME WILL COME) by Amartei Armar Ghana, France – 2026 World premiere
HANABI (FIRE FLOWER) by Ana Vaz France, Brazil – 2026 World premiere
LA ILUSIÓN DE UN VERANO SIN FIN (THE ILLUSION OF AN EVERLASTING SUMMER) by Alessandra Sanguinetti Argentina, USA – 2026 World premiere
L’ESTIVE (SUMMER MEADOW) by Naël Khleifi Belgium, France – 2026 World premiere
LOS DÍAS LIBRES (THE DAYS OFF) by Lucila Mariani Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, France – 2026 World premiere
MAGIC ATLAS by Sun Xun Singapore – 2026 World premiere
MORGEN VOR LANGER ZEIT (TOMORROW A LONG TIME AGO) by Luise Donschen Germany – 2026 World premiere
REVOLUTIONARIES NEVER DIE by Mohanad Yaqubi Palestine, Belgium, Qatar – 2026 World premiere
SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON by Nicolaas Schmidt Germany – 2026 World premiere
SMALL TALK by Mateo Ybarra Switzerland – 2026 World premiere
TEAR GAS by Uta Beria Georgia, France, Germany – 2026 World premiere
TODOS MIS VIAJES SON VIAJES DE REGRESO (IN ALL MY JOURNEYS I AM RETURNING) by Manuel Ponce de León Colombia – 2026 World premiere
Fuori Concorso (Out of Competition)
AH QUE LE BONHEUR EST PROCHE ! (HAPPINESS IS SO CLOSE!) by François-Christophe Marzal Switzerland – 2026 World premiere
ATCHA ATCHA by Mamadou Dia Senegal, France – 2026 World premiere
BAKMA by Abdelhamid Bouchnak Tunisia – 2026 World premiere
13 BLOODY TENNIS by Nikias Chryssos Germany – 2026 World premiere
BRUTON by Vincent Grashaw USA – 2026 World premiere
DER ENGELMACHER (THE ANGEL MAKER) by Marina Klauser Switzerland – 2026 Series World premiere
GUERRILHA NO ASFALTO (ASPHALT GUERRILLA) by Edgar Pêra Portugal – 2026 World premiere
MARCO BELLOCCHIO: LA PORTA DELLA REALTÀ by Fabio Lovino Italy – 2026 World premiere
ROMA ELASTICA by Bertrand Mandico France, Italy – 2026 International premiere
SEIZE MOMENTS DE MA VIE (SIXTEEN MOMENTS OF MY LIFE) by Albert Serra France, Spain – 2026 World premiere
SUNDOWN by Rebekah McKendry Canada – 2026 World premiere
ÜBERGANG (TRANSITION) by Peter Badel, Chris Wright Germany – 2026 World premiere
Short Film TOMBE DES RÊVES (TOMB OF DREAMS) by F.J. Ossang France – 2026 World premiere
Piazza Grande Program
Piazza Grande August 5 LES YEUX VERTS (THE GREEN EYES) by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh France, Belgium, Sweden – 2026 Douae Butarbuch M’Zaouki, Sayyid El Alami, Anamaria Vartolomei, Arcadi Radeff, Omar Al Jbaai World premiere
August 6 ARMONY by Dario Albertini Italy – 2026 Valerio Mastandrea, Asia Argento, Clara Tramontano, Pamela Schettino, Ornella Muti World premiere
August 6 – Second Screening WILD AT HEART by David Lynch USA – 1990 Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossellini, J.E. Freeman
August 7 ICH IST EIN ANDERER (I IS ANOTHER) by Felix Randau Germany, Austria – 2026 Claes Bang, Valerie Pachner, Susanne Wuest, Timocin Ziegler, Martin Müller World premiere*
August 7 – Second Screening DANCES WITH WOLVES by Kevin Costner USA, United Kingdom – 1990 Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
August 8 THE INVITE by Olivia Wilde USA – 2026 Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton Swiss premiere
August 8 – Second Screening TAXI DRIVER by Martin Scorsese USA – 1976 Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel
August 9 PAPER TIGER by James Gray USA – 2026 Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller Swiss premiere
August 10 FRANK & LOUIS by Petra Volpe Switzerland, United Kingdom – 2026 Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rob Morgan, René Pérez Joglar, Rosalind Eleazar, Indira Varma European premiere
August 11 CONGO BOY by Rafiki Fariala Central African Republic, France, Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy – 2026 Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset, Christy Djomanda Louba, Pétruche Mbomba, Rosiana Kotozia, Gloria Ambacko, Dieufera Sana, Carlos Suffisant Djihoro, David Ningando, Hubert Ngbolo, Zara Lucie Dobo, Bossoro-Kiabale, Berthe Ngbolo, Miguel Mbiguimale, Blessing Diaba, Ludmila Fada, Eudes Gadzo “Veyzo”, Archippe Marvine, Japhet Koundjia “KMJ” Swiss premiere
August 12 DOWN THE ARM OF GOD by Peter Brunner France, USA – 2026 Caleb Landry Jones, India Marie Cross, Nick Stahl, Mena Suvari, John P.W. Jones World premiere
August 13 IL CILENO (THE CHILEAN) by Sergio Castro-San Martín Italy, Chile, Switzerland – 2026 Camilo Arancibia, Sara Serraiocco, Andrew Bargsted, Gaetano Bruno, Lorenzo Richelmy World premiere
August 14 DEMAIN JE TOMBE AMOUREUX (LOVE LESSONS) by Martin Provost France, Belgium – 2026 Fabrice Luchini, Emmanuelle Devos, Chiara Mastroianni, Carole Bouquet World premiere
August 15 NI VUE, NI CONNUE (ALL ABOUT CORINNE) by Marc Fitoussi France, Belgium – 2026 Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain, Anne Marivin, Emmanuelle Bercot, Ana Girardot, Diane Kruger World premiere
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