10/08/2026 - Lorenzo Tocco’s The Surubí, Florian Hoffmann’s Yazz and Anne-Marie Miéville’s We’re All Still Here were among this year’s victors

The winners of First Look, Alliance 4 Development and the Heritage Restoration Contest (© Locarno Film Festival/Ti-Press)

Locarno Pro, the Locarno Film Festival’s industry platform, has revealed its winners across three of its flagship initiatives: the work-in-progress showcase First Look, the co-development platform Alliance 4 Development and the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest.

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Held from 7-9 August, this year’s First Look spotlighted six upcoming Uruguayan titles for industry professionals (see the report), thanks to a partnership with ACAU. The Surubí, directed by Lorenzo Tocco, and produced by Pancho Magnou Arnabal and Isabel García for Montelona, with Brazil’s Kocria serving as co-producer, emerged as the section’s biggest winner, scooping three prizes. It received the La Mayor Cine Award for complete sound post-production services; the Music Library & SFX/Acorde Award, offering €45,000 worth of music-supervision services; and the Jannuzzi Smith Award, worth €10,000 for the design of an international poster.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Guillermo and Irina Raffo’s Spring Story, produced by the pair for L’Avventura Cine alongside Germán Ormaechea, of Animista Cine, took home two trophies. It secured the Bright Side of the Moon First Look Award, consisting of complete colour-grading services, as well as the Le Film Français Award, which provides €5,600 worth of advertising space. The First Look jury – Ana David, programme advisor at the Berlinale; Susana Santos Rodrigues, co-director of IndieLisboa; and Triin Tramberg, artistic director of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival – praised the project “for its candid depiction of longing and desire, which connects those who dare to be driven by it”.

Alliance 4 Development, Locarno Pro’s co-development platform bringing together projects from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, also wrapped on 9 August. Florian Hoffmann’s Yazz, produced by Katrin Renz for Switzerland’s tellfilm GmbH, Nicole Gerhards for Germany’s NiKo Film and Xénia Maingot for France’s Eaux Vives Productions, claimed two prizes: the NEBEL Studios Award, estimated at CHF 30,500 and comprising three days of studio use and five days of camera equipment, and the Studio13/Valais Film Commission Award, worth an estimated CHF 12,000 for five days of studio use.

Antonio Donato’s Shooting Watermelons, produced by Santiago Fondevila Sancet for Italy’s Cinedora, received the CHF 3,000 Masé Studios Award. The CHF 25,000 Masé Studios Post-Production Award was handed out ex aequo to Tamer Ruggli’s Cuore Matto, produced by Francine Lusser and Gérard Monier for Switzerland’s Tipimages Productions, and Wendy Pillonel’s Magnetic Storms, produced by Flavia Zanon for Swiss outfit Close Up Films. The latter also picked up the MIDPOINT Consulting Award, granting the project an online script consultancy with a MIDPOINT Institute expert.

Jessica Puppo’s Reign of Silures, produced by Alexis Perrin for France’s Rumble Fish Productions, won the Ticino Film Commission Residence Award. The prize comprises a two-day location scout worth CHF 4,000 and a letter of intent for financial support of up to CHF 12,000 should the project shoot in Ticino. Meanwhile, Bruce LaBruce’s Third Take, staged by Nicolas Brevière for France’s Local Films, received the Alphapanda Market Breakout Award, consisting of consultancy services valued at €3,500.

Finally, the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest selected Anne-Marie Miéville’s We’re All Still Here (1997) as its winner. First presented at Locarno in 1997, the three-part meditation on philosophy and everyday life, featuring Jean-Luc Godard in a rare on-screen role, will undergo a complete restoration by film lab Cinegrell and premiere at the festival’s 2027 edition, coinciding with the movie’s 30th anniversary. The jury described it as “an essential work of Swiss cinema by one of the country’s leading female directors”, stressing that the restoration would provide a long-overdue opportunity to rediscover Miéville’s work.

Now in its fourth edition, the restoration contest previously honoured Safi Faye’s Letter From My Village (1976) in 2025, Liliana Cavani’s The Cannibals (1969) in 2024 and Alberto Cavalcanti’s Mulher de Verdade (1954) in 2023.

Here is the complete list of this year’s winners:

First Look

Bright Side of the Moon First Look Award
Spring Story – Gabriela Guillermo, Irina Raffo (Uruguay)
Producers: Gabriela Guillermo, Irina Raffo (L’Avventura Cine), Germán Ormaechea (Animista Cine)

La Mayor Cine Award
The Surubí – Lorenzo Tocco (Uruguay/Brazil)
Producers: Pancho Magnou Arnabal, Isabel García (Montelona)
Co-producer: Kocria

Music Library & SFX/Acorde Award
The Surubí – Lorenzo Tocco

Jannuzzi Smith Award
The Surubí – Lorenzo Tocco

Le Film Français Award
Spring Story – Gabriela Guillermo, Irina Raffo

Alliance 4 Development

NEBEL Studios Award
Yazz – Florian Hoffmann (Switzerland/Germany/France)
Producers: Katrin Renz (tellfilm GmbH), Nicole Gerhards (NiKo Film), Xénia Maingot (Eaux Vives Productions)

Masé Studios Award
Shooting Watermelons – Antonio Donato (Italy)
Producer: Santiago Fondevila Sancet (Cinedora)

Masé Studios Post-Production Award (ex aequo)
Cuore Matto – Tamer Ruggli (Switzerland)
Producers: Francine Lusser, Gérard Monier (Tipimages Productions)

Magnetic Storms – Wendy Pillonel (Switzerland)
Producer: Flavia Zanon (Close Up Films)

Studio13/Valais Film Commission Award
Yazz – Florian Hoffmann

Ticino Film Commission Residence Award
Reign of Silures – Jessica Puppo (France)
Producer: Alexis Perrin (Rumble Fish Productions)

Alphapanda Market Breakout Award
Third Take – Bruce LaBruce (France)
Producer: Nicolas Brevière (Local Films)

MIDPOINT Consulting Award
Magnetic Storms – Wendy Pillonel

Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest

Winner
We’re All Still Here (1997) – Anne-Marie Miéville (Switzerland/France)
Represented by Anne-Marie Miéville and L’atelier/Casa Azul Films