Locarno’s work in progress section, aiming to showcase films in any post-production stage from a different territory, every year. Canada is the focus country for 2025.
“Gender Reveal” (Mo Matton, 2024) © Travelling
First Look is the work in progress section of Locarno Film Festival, taking place during the Locarno Pro Days and selecting 6 feature films in post-production stage from a different focus country every year. Since 2012, First Look was launchpad for new productions from Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Israel, Poland, Baltic Countries, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Germany, the UK and Spain.
For its 14th edition (8-10 August, 2025), the Locarno Film Festival’s First Look initiative will focus on Canadian Cinema, thanks to a partnership with Telefilm Canada. Work in Progress will be presented to an audience of sales agents, buyers, programmers and representatives from post-production support funds, with a view to aiding their completion and enhancing both their sales prospects and international festival runs.
A jury of international festival directors and curators will award several prizes, including the Music Library &SFX/Acorde Award worth € 45,000, consisting in music supervision services at Music Library &SFX ’s labs, an award provided by leading industry magazine Le Film Français worth € 5,600 of advertising space, and the Jannuzzi Smith Award, which will provide the winning project with the design of an international poster worth € 10,000.
The selection, along with the jury members and new awards, will be announced in July. The winners will be announced during the Locarno Pro Award Ceremony on Sunday, 10 August.
Producers can apply until 19 April, 2025 at 6pm CEST.
To be eligible for selection, producers need to provide a rough cut of at least 60 minutes at any stage in the post-production process. The principal production company for the film must be Canadian.
For info please contact industry@locarnofestival.ch
Several films selected at First Look have become international successes, such as Sand Storm by Elite Zexer (Israel, 2015); The Second Mother by Anna Muylaert (Brazil, 2014); To Kill a Man by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras (Chile, 2013), Landscapes of Resistance by Marta Popidova (Serbia, 2019), Semret by Caterina Mona (Switzerland, 2021) and De Noche Los Gatos son Pardos (Switzerland, 2021). Several films from the 2022 edition on German Cinema premiered in major festivals: Letzter Abend by Lukas Nathrath (Tiger Competition Rotterdam, 2023), Elaha by Milena Aboyan (Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Berlinale 2023), Empty Nets by Behrooz Karamizade (Karlovy Vary 2023), Life is not a competition, but I’m winning by Julia Fuhr Mann (Settimana Internazionale della Critica, Venice 2023) and Arthur & Diana by Sara Summa (IFF Toronto 2023).
First Look on Spanish Cinema 2024
First Look 2024 selection:
The 2024 First Look on Spanish Cinema winners are:
First Look on UK Film 2023
The selected WIPS:
First Look Awards
First Look 2022 on German Cinema
Arthur & Diana by Sara Summa, produced by Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin
Drei Leben Lang (Three Lives Long) by Felicitas Korn, produced by Maze Pictures, co-produced by U5 Filmproduktion
Elaha by Milena Aboyan, produced by Kinescope Film, co-produced by Essence Film
Leere Netze (Empty Nets) by Behrooz Karamizade, produced by BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion, co-produced by Living Pictures Production, Rainy Pictures (Iran), ZDF / Das kleine Fernsehspiel in collaboration with ARTE
Letzter Abend (One Last Evening) by Lukas Nathrath, produced by Klinkerfilm, co-produced by Doppelbauer & Nathrath Filmproduktion
Life Is Not a Competition, But I’m Winning by Julia Fuhr Mann, produced by Schuldenberg Films, co-produced by HFF Munich
First Look Awards Winners 2022
Cinegrell First Look Award – post-production service worth 50,000 Euros
Letzter Abend (One Last Evening) by Lukas Nathrath, produced by Klinkerfilm, co-produced by Doppelbauer & Nathrath Filmproduktion
Le Film Français Award - advertising services worth 5,600 euro
Arthur & Diana by Sara Summa, produced by Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin
Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize - Designing of international poster worth 5,000 euro
Elaha by Milena Aboyan, produced by Kinescope Film, co-produced by Essence Film
De Noche los Gatos son Pardos by Valentin Merz, produced by Marie Lanne-Chesnot and Valentin Merz (Andrea Film)
Las Toreras Directed by Jackie Brutsche, Produced by Recycled Tv AG, Co-produced by Reck Filmproduktion, Producer: Madeleine Corbat
My Old Man by Steven Vit, Produced by Lomotion AG, Producer: David Fonjallaz, Louis Mataré
Réduit by Leon Schwitter, produced by Caroline Hepting, Rea Televantos, Leon Schwitter (EXIT Filmkollektiv), co-produced by Sabotage Filmkollektiv
Semret by Caterina Mona, produced by Michela Pini (Cinédokké), co-produced by Cineworx Produktion Basel and RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera
The Mies van der Rohes, by Sabine Gisiger, produced by Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, producer: Karin Koch
First Look Awards Winners 2021
Cinegrell First Look Award – post-production service worth 50,000 Swiss francs
to De Noche los Gatos son Pardos by Valentin Merz, produced by Marie Lanne-Chesnot and Valentin Merz (Andrea Film)
Le Film Français Award - advertising services worth 5,600 euro
to Semret by Caterina Mona, produced by Michela Pini (Cinédokké), co-produced by Cineworx Produktion Basel and RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera
Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize - Designing of international poster worth 5,000 euro
to Réduit by Leon Schwitter, produced by Caroline Hepting, Rea Televantos, Leon Schwitter (EXIT Filmkollektiv), co-produced by Sabotage Filmkollektiv
Discover more
Celts by Milica Tomović, produced by EED Productions
Resisting Landscapes by Marta Popivoda, produced by Theory at Work
Speak so I can see you by Marija Stojnić, produced by Bilboke
In Praise Of Love by Tamara Drakulić produced by Monkey Production
Prison Beauty Contest by Srdjan Sarenac, produced by NOVI FILM
Telenovela Greyscale in Color by Filip Martinovic, produced by GULU GULU Presenta
First Look Awards Winners 2019
Celts – Cinelab Bucharest Award
Telenovela Greyscale in Color – Le Film Français ward
Resisting Landscapes – Kaiju Diffusion Award
Campo by Tiago Hespanha, produced by Terratreme
Viveiro by Pedro Filipe Marques, produced by O Som e a Furia
Terra (Earth) by Rossana Torres, Hiroatsu Suzuki, produced by Association Entre Imagem
Gabriel by Nuno Bernardo, produced by BeActive
Golpe de Sol (Sunburn) by Vicente Alves do Ô, produced by Ukbar Filmes
Halito Azul (Blue Breath) by Rodrigo Areias, produced by Bando à Parte
First Look Awards Winners 2018
Campo – Cinelab Bucharest Award
Viveiro – Le Film Fraçais Award
Viveiro – Kaiju Diffusion Award
Portugal by Lauri Lagle, produced by Allfilm OÜ
The Little Comrade by Moonika Siimets, produced by Amrion OÜ
The Mover by Davis Simanis Jr, produced by Mistrus Media
Paradise 89 by Madara Dišlere, produced by Tasse Film
El Padre Medico by Vytautas Puidokas, produced by Ironcat
Stasis by Mantas Kvedaravicius, produced by Studio Uljana Kim
First Look Awards Winners 2017
Portugal – Cinelab Bucharest Award
The Little Comrade – Le Film Français Award
13 Summers Under The Water by Witkoria Szymańska, produced by Luna W
Birds are singing in Kigali by Joanna Kos-Krauze & Krzysztof Krauze, produced by Kosfilm
The Butler by Filip Bajon, produced by FilmIcon
Day of Chocolate by Jacek Piotr Bławut, produced by Aura Films
I'm a Killer by Maciej Pieprzyca, produced by Re Studio
Zgoda by Maciej Sobieszczański, produced by STUDIO FILMOWE KALEJDOSKOP
First Look Awards Winners 2016
Birds are Singing in Kigali - Cinelab Bucharest award
Zgoda – Le Film Français Award
A Quiet Heart by Eitan Anner, produced byGreenProductions
Amal by Miya Hatav, produced by Daroma Productions
Ewa by Haim Tabakman, produced by Metro Communications
Our Father by Meni Yaesh, produced by Transfax Films Production
Sand Storm by Elite Texer, produced by 2-Team Productions
The 90 Minute War by Eyal Halfon, produced byNorma Production
First Look Awards Winners 2015
Sand Storm –Cinelab Bucharest Award
A Quiet Heart – Le Film Français Award
Nise da Silveira by Roberto Berliner, produced by TvZero
O Touro (The Bull) by Larissa Figueredo, produced by Tu i Tam Filmes
Xucro (Wild Love Prayer) by Chico Faganello, produced byCineramabc
Beco (Alley) by Camilo Cavalcante, produced by Aurora Cinema
Aspirantes (Hopefuls) by Ives Rosenfeld, produced by Bubbles Project (First Look Winner)
Ponto Zero (Point Zero) by José Pedro Goulart, produced by Okna Produções
Que horas ela Volta (The Second Mother) by Anna Muylaert, produced by Gullane
Thanks to a partnership with CinemaChile and the Valdivia Festival’s AustraLab and support from the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Carte Blanche presented seven Chilean films in post-production.
The jury for Carte Blanche 2013, comprising Frédéric Boyer, artistic director of the TriBeCa Film Festival (USA), Gerwin Tamsma, programmer for the Rotterdam International Film Festival (Netherlands) and producer Agustina Chiarino (Uruguay), decided to give this award of 10,000 CHF, offered by the DSC and intended to enable the film’s completion, to the film:
To kill a man by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
"For gripping and haunting way the film confronts the viewer with questions of fate, choice and tragedy in contemporary society showing the maturing voice of an important Chilean filmmaker."
Thanks to IMCINE, the Mexican Film Institute, and with the support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Festival del film Locarno's Carte Blanche has shown seven films to the various international sales agents and festival programmers who participated in the Industry Days.
The 2012 Carte Blanche Jury, composed of:
Erick Gonzalez (Chili), General Delegate of Australab (Valdivia, Chile) and
Head of Programming of the Latinamerican Film Festival (Toulouse, France)
Alejandra Paulin (Mexico), Head of Industry & Market, Guadalajara Film Festival
Edouard Waintrop (France), General Delegate of Directors’ Fortnight Cannes
Has decided to award a grant of 10'000 CHF, financed by the SDC and aiming to complete the project, to the first feature:
Las Lagrimas (The Tears) by Pablo Delgado Sanchez, produced by Guillermo Ortiz Picharo.
The jury declares that: “the film has been chosen for its freshness, its optimism, change of sensibility tone and risky personal proposal.”
The Full Slate of films selected for Carte Blanche 2011 was:
El Diare de Ana by Diego Guerra, Colombia
Edificio Royal by Ivan Wild, produced by Cristina Gallego, Colombia
Chocò by Jhonny Hendrix, produced by Maritza Rincón, Colombia
Corta by Felipe Guerrero, Colombia
Jardin de Amapolas by Juan Carlos Melo Guevara, produced by Maja Zimmermann, Colombia
La Playa DC by Juan Andrés Arango, produced by Diana Bustamante, Colombia
La Sergento Matacho by William González Zafra, produced by Alina Hleap, Colombia
Sin Palabras by Ana Sofía Osorio and Diego Bustamante, produced by Simón Beltràn Echeverri, Colombia
