The Locarno Film Festival is one of the world’s longest-running, known for its adventurous programmimg, exciting retrospectives and nightly open-air screenings. At the official press conference on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro presented the line-up for the 78th edition, which will feature a total of 221 films, including 99 world premieres. A total of 6373 films were submitted this year, 12 percent more than last year.

The Concorso Internazionale competition section will open with WITH HASAN IN GAZA by Kamal Aljafari. The documentary is based on three rediscovered mini-DV tapes from 2001 that show life in Gaza. These recordings are now a testimony to a place and a time that no longer exists. What began as a search for a former prison mate from 1989 - a man lost to time and war - led to an unexpected journey from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, accompanied by Hasan, a local guide. Also screening in the competition is the German production PHANTOMS OF JULY, a comedy by Julian Radlmaier about an East German waitress with a broken heart and an Iranian Youtuber with a broken arm who are looking for a way out of their loneliness and end up in a ghost hunt in the mountains. A romantic adventure film about an unusual friendship and the longing for a different life. The third major German film competing for the Golden Leopard is DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze. The drama follows Lisa, a sports photographer who has disappeared. She was last seen taking pictures in rural soccer stadiums in villages in Georgia. Her father Irakli sets out to find her with the help of Lisa's mysterious best friend.

In the “most beautiful open-air cinema” - as the film festival itself describes the venue on the Piazza Grande - THE DEAD OF WINTER by Brian Kirk will be shown. The German-American production is about a widowed fisherwoman - played by Emma Thompson, who will also be honored with the Leopard Club Award in Locarno - who gets stuck in Minnesota during a snowstorm. She comes across a kidnapped teenager and seems to be the only hope for the young victim.

THE PLANT FROM THE CANARIES is screening in the other competition section, Concorso Cineasti Del Presenti. The film is about May, in her early thirties, who finds herself alone after a break-up. As she drifts through sleepless days in Berlin, faint memories of her youth in Seoul return. The drama is a contemporary portrait of a woman caught between times, identities and the gentle shifts of everyday life. A feature film debut by Berlin-based Chinese director Ruan Lan-Xi.

Several German short films are also represented 2025 in the Pardi di Domani - Concorso Internazionale competition section, including two major German productions: BLIND, INTO THE EYE by Atefeh Kheirabadi and Mehrad Sepahnia, a film essay that aims to deal with the interface between the direct “seeing” of the protests in Iran since September 2022 and the narratives of the images created in the process, as well as UNIFORMED by Timon Ott about an 18-year-old young man who signs up for 17 years of military service. The two films SLET 1988 by Marta Popivoda and LATE HARVEST by Katharina Huber can also be seen in the other short film section Pardi Di Domani: Concorso Corti D'autore.

The film THE COWBOY by André Hörmann will be shown in the independent Semaine de la Critique, which takes place parallel to the film festival and features seven innovative documentaries each year that stand out from conventional trends in terms of subject matter and style.

A total of 37 up-and-coming producers from 14 countries have been selected for Locarno Pro's international network initiative Match Me!, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025. From August 8-10, Match Me! will organize a series of one-on-one meetings and tailored networking activities, bringing participants together with potential business partners, co-producers and key industry players. Participants from Germany include Felix Hermann (Benedetta Films), Sarah Radu (Matadoras) and Valentina Huber (Trima Film).

An overview of all of the German productions and co-productions screening in Locarno:

Concorso Internazionale
WITH HASAN IN GAZA by Kamal Aljafari (DE/QA/CH/FR, kamal aljafari productions) – Opening Film
PHANTOMS OF JULY (SEHNSUCHT IN SANGERHAUSEN) by Julian Radlmaier (Blue Monticola Film)
DONKEY DAYS by Rosanne Pel (NL/DE, Junafilm)
DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze (DE/GE, New Matter Films)
WHITE SNAIL by Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (AT/DE, ma.ja.de)
DESIRE LINES by Dane Komljen (RS/BA/NL/HR/DE, Flaneur Films)

Concorso Cineasti Del Presente
THE PLANT FROM THE CANARIES by Ruan Lan-Xi (DFFB)
THE FIN by Syeyoung Park (KR/DE/QA)

Piazza Grande
THE DEAD OF WINTER by Brian Kirk (DE/US, Augenschein Films)
SENTIMENTAL VALUE by Joachim Trier (NO/FR/DK/DE, Komplizen Film)
LA PETITE DERNIÈRE (THE LITTLE SISTER) by Hafsia Herzi (FR/DE, Katuh Studio)

Pardi Di Domani: Concorso Internazionale
UNLEADED 95 (BLEIFREI 95) by Emma Hütt, Tina Emy Muffler (AT/DE, SUPERZOOM Film)
BLIND, INTO THE EYE (BLIND, INS AUGE) by Atefeh Kheirabadi, Mehrad Sepahnia (DE/IR, plotlessfilm)
UNIFORMED (DIE UNIFORMIERTEN) by Timon Ott (EINBAUM FILM)

Pardi Di Domani: Concorso Corti D’autore
SLET 1988 by Marta Popivoda (DE/FR/RS)
LATE HARVEST (SPÄTERNTE) by Katharina Huber

Panorama Suisse
LATE SHIFT (HELDIN) by Petra Biondina Volpe (CH/DE, MMC Zodiac)

Open Doors Screening
ANCESTRAL VISIONS OF THE FUTURE by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (LS/FR/DE,
SEERA Films)
NEW MAN by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (CV/BE/DE/ SD, AUTENTIKA FILMS)
TUG OF WAR by Amil Shivji (TZ/SA/DE/QA,NIKO Film)

Histoire(s) du Cinéma 
SILENT NIGHT by Carlos Reygadas (MX/FR/NL/DE, The Match Factory)

Semaine De La Critique
THE COWBOY by André Hörmann (DE/USA, TELEKULT Film- und Medienproduktion)

LOCARNO PRO
Alliance4development
AMOR Y REBELDÍA (LOVE AND REBELLION) by Sarah Miro Fischer produced by Titus Kreyenberg and Nina Sophie Bayer-Seel (Una Film, Germany)
HOW TO WALK ON WATER (CÓMO CAMINAR SOBRE EL AGUA) by Sofía Ayala, produced by Maritza Grass and Vincent Edusei (Carousel Film, Germany), and Mathilde Warisse (Wrong Films, France)