The 79th Locarno Film Festival has announced the juries for its two major competitive sections, naming Belgian filmmaker Fabrice du Welz as president of the International Competition Jury while also unveiling the panel that will judge the Filmmakers of the Present Competition, dedicated to emerging directors.
Du Welz will lead a five-member jury for Locarno’s flagship competition, joined by Italian producer Marco Alessi, French actress Lolita Chammah, Chilean actress Paulina García, and French film executive and programmer Olivier Père. Together, the panel will decide this year’s winners of the festival’s prestigious Golden Leopard (Pardo d’Oro) and other main competition awards.
The appointment marks another milestone in du Welz’s long relationship with the Swiss festival. Across a career spanning more than two decades, the Belgian filmmaker has become one of Europe’s leading voices in psychological thrillers and genre cinema. He made his feature debut with Calvaire (2004), which premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week, before directing acclaimed films including Vinyan (2008), Alleluia (2014), Message from the King (2016) starring Chadwick Boseman, Adoration (2019), and Maldoror (2024). His work has screened at major festivals including Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and Locarno, where Adoration premiered on the Piazza Grande in 2019 and The Passion According to Béatrice screened out of competition in 2024.
Joining du Welz on the International Competition jury is Marco Alessi, founder of Rome-based Dugong Films, whose producing credits include collaborations with directors Stefano Savona, Yuri Ancarani, and Rä di Martino. Alessi also produced Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica, which will screen out of competition at this year’s festival.
French actress Lolita Chammah, whose career includes collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers such as Claude Chabrol, Werner Schroeter, Claire Denis, Claire Simon, and Benoît Jacquot, also joins the jury. Completing the panel are Chilean actress Paulina García, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival for Gloria in 2013, and Olivier Père, the former artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival and former general delegate of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, who currently heads the cinema division at Arte France Cinéma.
Locarno also announced the jury for its Filmmakers of the Present Competition, the section dedicated to discovering emerging filmmaking talent. Tunisian actress, director, and producer Afef Ben Mahmoud, who also directs Tunisia’s Gabès Cinéma Fen Festival, will serve on the three-member panel alongside Czech producer and director Radovan Síbrt, co-founder of Pink Productions and producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025), and Italian filmmaker Margherita Spampinato, whose debut feature Sweetheart (Gioia Mia) premiered in the section last year before winning a David di Donatello and the Kering Women in Motion Emerging Talent Award at Cannes.
The International Competition remains Locarno’s premier section, showcasing world premieres from established and emerging filmmakers competing for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Leopard. Meanwhile, the Filmmakers of the Present Competition focuses exclusively on first and second features and has long served as one of Europe’s most important platforms for discovering new directing talent.
The jury announcement is another major step in the lead-up to the 79th Locarno Film Festival, which will once again bring together filmmakers, actors, producers, and programmers from around the world. By assembling a jury that combines acclaimed directors, producers, performers, and festival veterans, Locarno continues its tradition of celebrating auteur-driven cinema while championing the next generation of international filmmakers.
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