Locarno Critics’ Week
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| Locarno Critics’ Week | |
|---|---|
| Name | Locarno Critics’ Week |
| Location | Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founders | International Federation of Film Critics |
| Language | Italian, French, English |
Locarno Critics’ Week is an annual sidebar program held in conjunction with the Locarno Festival in Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland, dedicated to showcasing first and second feature films by emerging directors and fostering critical discourse among international film critics. The section operates alongside major festival strands such as the Pardo d'oro competition and collaborates with institutions like the FIPRESCI and the Cineuropa network to promote auteur cinema across Europe and beyond. Over the years it has presented films linked to directors and movements associated with Pedro Almodóvar, Wim Wenders, Agnès Varda, Akira Kurosawa, and Aki Kaurismäki, while engaging critics from publications such as Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight & Sound, Variety, The Guardian, and Le Monde.
History
Launched in 1990 by a coalition of European critics influenced by the legacy of Venice Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and the critical platforms established after Cannes Directors' Fortnight, the programme was conceived as a parallel forum to the Locarno Festival main slate. Early editions featured retrospectives and emerging auteurs whose careers intersected with figures like François Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, and Satyajit Ray, situating the Critics’ Week within a transnational art-house circuit that also connected to institutions such as the British Film Institute, Cinémathèque Française, and Museum of Modern Art (New York). The section evolved through the 1990s and 2000s alongside shifts in distribution led by companies like Artificial Eye and Match Factory, and festivals including Berlin International Film Festival, San Sebastián International Film Festival, and Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Organisation and Selection
Programming is overseen by an editorial committee composed of members from national critics’ associations such as FIPRESCI, Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana, and critics affiliated with outlets including The New York Times, Le Figaro, Der Spiegel, El País, and Corriere della Sera. Submissions are evaluated through screenings at venues like the Spazio Cinema, Piazza Grande, and partner cinemas involving curators from Tate Modern, Film at Lincoln Center, and the Centre Pompidou. The selection process emphasizes first and second features by directors with prior festival presence at events like Venice Critics' Week, Cannes Quinzaine, and Sundance Film Festival, with programmers drawing on catalogs from distributors such as Mubi, Neon, A24, and sales agents including Fortissimo Films and The Match Factory. Collaborative partnerships extend to film schools like La Fémis, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Awards and Prizes
The awards structure complements the Locarno awards system exemplified by the Pardo d'oro and includes recognitions backed by associations such as FIPRESCI, the Cineuropa Award, and critics’ prizes mirroring honors like the Camera d'Or and the Queer Lion. Monetary and distribution-related prizes have been sponsored by producers and organizations including Swiss Films, Eurimages, European Film Academy, IFFR Hubert Bals Fund, and private patrons comparable to those supporting the Prix Louis Delluc. Recipients have gone on to contend for prizes at Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and regional awards such as the European Film Awards.
Notable Screenings and Premieres
The sidebar has premiered works that later resonated in wider festival circuits and awards seasons, presenting filmmakers whose subsequent films screened at Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival. Notable titles in the sidebar’s history have included early works analogous to films by Lynne Ramsay, Guillermo del Toro, Yorgos Lanthimos, Asghar Farhadi, and Kelly Reichardt, while retrospectives and special programs have highlighted oeuvres connected to Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Hayao Miyazaki, and Wong Kar-wai. The program has also provided a platform for films from festivals such as Cairo International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and FESPACO.
Jury and Critics
Juries for Critics’ Week are typically constituted of international critics, festival programmers, film historians, and curators drawn from institutions like Sundance Institute, European Film Academy, ICA (London), MoMA, British Film Institute, and media outlets including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Der Standard, and La Repubblica. Prominent critics who have served include figures affiliated with Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight & Sound, and Film Comment, and the jury deliberations often engage scholarly perspectives connected to names such as André Bazin, Laura Mulvey, Stuart Hall, Richard Dyer, and Homi K. Bhabha through referenced critical frameworks.
Impact and Reception
The Critics’ Week has been influential in amplifying early-career directors into the international festival ecosystem alongside movements championed by Dogme 95, New German Cinema, and French New Wave. Press coverage from Variety, Screen Daily, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, and national dailies has underscored its role in shaping distribution deals with companies like Strand Releasing, Kino Lorber, and NEON. Academic engagement has appeared in journals such as Film Quarterly, Cinema Journal, and Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, while alumni filmmakers have subsequently collaborated with broadcasters and platforms like BBC Two, Arte, HBO, Netflix, and Amazon Studios. The program continues to function as a conduit between critics, programmers, and emerging auteurs within the global film festival network.