Genevièvre Dulude-De Celles' film 'Nina Roza' and Goran Rebić's 'In The Hidden' secure top honors in Locarno Pro competition
The 2025 Locarno Pro Awards, held on Sunday, 10th August, celebrated a diverse array of projects from around the globe. The awards recognised winners across several categories, including First Look, Alliance 4 Development, Antaviana Spanish Previews Award, and the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest.
First Look Awards Shine Bright
In the First Look category, Nina Roza by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles (Canada/Italy/Belgium/Bulgaria) was a standout winner, securing two prestigious awards. The film received the Urban Post First Look Award, which offers post-production services up to CHF 50,000 (€53,000). Additionally, Nina Roza was awarded the Jannuzzi Smith Award, granting €10,000 for international poster design.
The jury was impressed by the film's creative integration of music and art, exploring themes of identity, exile, and belonging. Other winners in the First Look category included Adrià Guxens’ Lóngquán: The Dragon Spring and Valentin Merz’s Dark Chocolate.
Alliance 4 Development and Antaviana Spanish Previews Awards
While specific winners for the Alliance 4 Development and the Antaviana Spanish Previews Awards are not individually listed in the provided results, these initiatives are part of the Locarno Pro's 2025 program aimed at supporting filmmakers and promoting international co-productions.
Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest
No detailed winner information for the Heritage Restoration Contest was found in the search results. This category traditionally honours outstanding restoration projects preserving cinema history, but specific 2025 awardees have not been reported in these sources.
Other Notable Wins
In the work-in-progress section First Look, Goran Rebić's In The Hidden won the Masé Studio Postproduction Award worth CHF25,000 in post-production services. The international jury praised Letter From My Village for its enduring relevance and the legacy of a woman who paved the way for African cinema.
Nick Butler's second feature Lunar Sway received the Cineground Award, and Le Film Français's award of advertising space.
Portuguese-Swiss filmmaker-actress Jenna Hasse received an additional special award - CHF10,000 worth of post-production services - for her second feature Snow. Swiss director Valentin Merz won the Masé Studio Award for his mystery drama Dark Chocolate. Anne Zinn-Justin's debut feature Najma And Salomé received DreamAgo's CHF5,000 script consultancy residency.
The experimental film Solastalgia by Yoer Gasmi and Mauro Mazzocchi received the Ticino Film Commission Residence Award. Projects from Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and Italy were among the winners.
More information might be available directly from Locarno Pro’s official communications for the other categories. The Locarno Film Festival, set to take place next year, will see the full restoration of the 1975 film Letter From My Village by the late Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye.
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