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© Jason Hetherington
Edgar-Jones’ magnetic screen presence and subtle nonverbal communication won over global audiences in the miniseries Normal People, based on the novel by Sally Rooney, enshrining her status as one of the most brilliant stars of her generation. Her future on the big screen is looking equally bright after her leading role in Where the Crawdads Sing (Olivia Newman, 2022), which will be screened in Piazza Grande on the evening when she receives the prize. The Leopard Club Award, named for the Festival’s official supporting association and presided over by Rolando Benedick, will pay tribute to the actress and her skill at embodying the future through her characters, alongside her multifarious career to date, which has combined cinema with new forms of audiovisual storytelling.
Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director: “Daisy Edgar-Jones is one of the most promising actresses working today. Her talent was honed on the stage but has made a perfect transition to film and TV, capturing the attention of younger audiences and gently taking hold of their many articulations of image and imagination. She is a talent with many surprises in store, and the Locarno Film Festival sees her as an actress sounding out the future.”
On Friday 5 August the Leopard Club Award will be given to Daisy Edgar-Jones in the atmospheric setting of the Piazza Grande. On 6 August at 7pm at PalaCinema, there will be a screening of the film that marked Edgar-Jones’ big-screen debut:
Pond Life, Bill Buckhurst – UK – 2018
British actor Daisy Edgar-Jones trained at the National Youth Theatre before landing her first role at the age of 17 as a series regular in the British Comedy-Drama Cold Feet alongside James Nesbitt for ITV.
Most notably, Daisy was seen playing the lead role of Marianne in the adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel Normal People (2020) directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hattie MacDonald. The series was met with critical acclaim as was Daisy’s performance, which earned her IMDb’s Breakthrough STARMeter Award, a Madame Figaro Rising Star Award, a Rose d'Or Emerging Talent Award - making Daisy the first-ever winner of this award - as well as being named as one of Screen International’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ for 2020, Associated Press Breakthrough Entertainer for 2020 and being picked by The Hollywood Reporter for their Next Gen 2020 list. Daisy also earned a Critics Choice, Golden Globe and BAFTA TV nomination.
Daisy starred in the lead role opposite Sebastian Stan in the feature film Fresh, directed by Mimi Cave. The social thriller premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was released on Hulu / Disney +. In 2018, she shot the independent coming-of-age feature film Pond Life which was directed by Bill Buckhurst and produced by Open Palm Films.
Most recently, Daisy stars in the film adaption of Delia Owens’ novel Where the Crawdads Sing, as the titular role of Kya. Directed by Olivia Newman with a screenplay by Lucy Alibar, the 3000 Pictures film is produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter’s Hello Sunshine.
Founded in February 2008 by its current President, Rolando Benedick, the Leopard Club is the official supporting association of the Locarno Film Festival.
Thanks to contributions from Club members – who enjoy a range of exclusive privileges that create a unique Festival experience – the Leopard Club immediately became a significant financial backer for the Festival and continues to be a solid support for its future growth and development.