The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, an international film festival held annually in

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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. 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. As of 2024

René Clair René Clair (; 11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette (), was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. H ...

is the only director to have won the award twice, winning in the first two years of the festival.

Winners

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.

References

External links

Official site

IMDb
{{Locarno International Film Festival International film awards Locarno Film Festival Swiss film awards * Awards established in 1946 1946 establishments in Switzerland