Locarno Film Festival has announced the selection for its 2026 Pardi di Domani and Open Doors Screenings.
Films by emerging talents, rising stars and established auteurs like Ben Rivers, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Antonin Peretjatko, Bani Khoshnoudi and Deepak Rauniyar feature among the titles of this year’s Pardi di Domani, the short and mid-length film section of the Locarno Film Festival.
Meanwhile, the section Open Doors Screenings presents eight features and five shorts from a diverse array of African talents, including the world premiere of Aymar Esse’s La kora de mon père.
“The energy of Pardi di Domani vividly embodies the mission of the Locarno Film Festival: bridging generations and cinematic traditions through dialogue, while championing the filmmakers whose work will help shape cinema’s future,” Locarno explained.
“This year’s edition presents 40 world premieres across three competitions and 29 countries, offering audiences a glimpse into where the art of film might head next.
“Within the sections Concorso Internazionale and Concorso Nazionale, emerging talents gain their first international exposure in Locarno and, with it, the opportunity to share their vision with the global film industry.
“The Concorso Corti d’Autore, meanwhile, showcases short films by established directors.”
Eddie Bertozzi, head of the Pardi di Domani Selection Committee, added: “The war of the worlds in a selection of 40 fearless titles that reflect both on the public conflicts shattering our present and the private battles defining our humanity.
“At its core, always, is cinema’s ultimate quest: its need to reinvent itself, our faith in the power of the image.”
Rooted in Open Doors’ mission to “support filmmakers from underrepresented regions and countries where cinema as a form of expression is at risk”, the festival’s section Open Doors Screenings presents a selection of short and feature films from across the African continent, including the world premiere of Esse’s La kora de mon père.
The directors of the selected short films are also invited to participate in the Open Doors Directors programme, connecting the screenings to the broader ecosystem of training and industry development that defines Open Doors as a whole.
Delphine Jeanneret and Ibee Ndaw, programmers of Open Doors Screenings, said: “Open Doors Screenings bring together 13 films from 12 African countries, reflecting a rich diversity of languages, beliefs and imaginations.
“The selection weaves together fiction, documentaries and hybrid works into a constellation of perspectives. It is an invitation to step into these films as if they were open spaces: places for listening, for exchange, and for encounter.”
The full line-ups are available on the Locarno website.
