The Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro industry strand on Sunday unveiled the winners of its industry awards, including its First Look works-in-progress section focusing on projects on the verge of completion, the co-development program Alliance 4 Development, the Antaviana Spanish Previews Award, and the fourth Heritage Restoration Contest.

The winners were unveiled during the Locarno Pro Award Ceremony on Sunday. The promising feature film projects that competed for the First Look awards were from this year’s focus country, Uruguay.

The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival runs until Aug. 15.

Check out the full list of Locarno Pro winners below.

FIRST LOOK
Works-in-progress section, with a 2026 focus on Uruguay.

Bright Side of the Moon First Look Award
Complete color grading services.
Historia de primavera (Spring Story) – dir. Gabriela Guillermo and Irina Raffo, prod. Gabriela Guillermo and Irina Raffo (L’Avventura Cine), Germán Ormaechea (Animista Cine).

Synopsis: “In Montevideo’s Botanical Garden, a fleeting encounter ignites a fevered love between Agustín and Bruno. As Bruno departs for Venice, desire persists across oceans, entangling a Spinozist professor and rival passions. Between philosophy and flesh, jealousy and freedom, spring unfolds as a restless search for love, nature, and the fragile ethics of attachment.”

Jury statement: “For its candid depiction of longing and desire which connects those who dare to be driven by it.”

La Mayor Cine Award
Complete sound post-production services.
El Surubí (The Surubí), dir. Lorenzo Tocco, prod. Pancho Magnou Arnabal and Isabel García (Montelona), co-prod. Kocria (Brazil).

Synopsis: “The Surubí, an industrial town on the verge of disappearing, is transformed overnight into the scene of a series of miraculous apparitions. Locals seize the opportunity to market the town as a destination for mystical tourism. But divine power is a dangerous weapon, especially in a town desperately in need of a savior.”

Music Library &SFX/Acorde Award
Music supervision services at Music Library & SFX’s labs worth EUR 45,000.
El Surubí (The Surubí), see above

Jannuzzi Smith Award
The design of an international poster worth EUR 10,000.
El Surubí (The Surubí), see above

Le Film Français Award
EUR 5,600 of advertising space.
Historia de primavera (Spring Story), see above

ALLIANCE 4 DEVELOPMENT
Co-development platform.

Nebel Studios Award
Estimated value of CHF 30,500 for three days of studio use and five days of camera equipment.
Yazz by Florian Hoffmann, prod. Katrin Renz (tellfilm GmbH, Switzerland), Nicole Gerhards (NiKo Film, Germany), Xénia Maingot (Eaux Vives Productions, France).

Synopsis: “As a teenager Yasmine – Yazz – grows up on a UN compound in the Central African Republic, caught between barbed wire, privilege and danger. A secret escape to see her local boyfriend Joseph ends in an accident that tears her family apart. Ten years later, her mother reappears in Switzerland – with Joseph by her side. Forced to face her first love and her own guilt, Yazz must ask whether old wounds can truly heal, or only scar.”

Statement: “What really struck us about Yazz is its unique and very personal perspective on a world we think we know, but rarely see from the inside. The project has also shown to be at an incredibly advanced stage of development that has already received strong recognition, with experienced co-production partners on board, great talent attached and development funding secured in Switzerland – confirming our belief in the project’s artistic and production potential.”

Masé Studios Award
CHF 3,000 in cash.
Sparare alle Angurie (Shooting Watermelons) – dir. Antonio Donato, prod. Santiago Fondevila Sancet (Cinedora, Italy).

Synopsis: “During a difficult separation, an authoritarian father takes his two grown sons on a summer vacation without their mother for the first time. As they try to survive without her, the gap between them widens, especially when a wealthy foreign family arrives, stirring envy and rivalry. When a strong storm forces them to stay indoors, old wounds and hidden fears surface, revealing their struggle to connect and their quiet wish to stay together as a family.”

Masé Studios Post-Production Award
CHF 25,000 in post-production services.
Ex aequo winners:
Cuore Matto – dir. Tamer Ruggli, prod. Francine Lusser, Gérard Monier (Tipimages Productions, Switzerland)

Synopsos: “Bienne, 1969. Matteo, 17, dreams of becoming an actor and escaping his father and a grey industrial town. Sent to Ticino for the harvest, he discovers a vibrant, sensual world with Lucio and Alba, awakening desire and identity. At home, his mother Giusi, trapped in an oppressive marriage, begins her own quiet emancipation. Carried by Italian songs, their parallel journeys intertwine in a queer and feminist coming-of-age musical about freedom, love and reinvention.”

and

Les Orages Magnétiques (Magnetic Storms) – dir. Wendy Pillonel, prod. Flavia Zanon (Close Up Films, Switzerland).

Synopsis: “As she prepares to compete in crucial selections, Jo, a brash young rugby talent, finds herself without a phone, stranded with her mother in an Italian village where the ground is shaking. Angry and obsessed with returning to Switzerland, she secretly contacts her father, convinced he’ll help her. But his arrival upsets the fragile balance she believed she could control. Jo realizes she can no longer protect the silence surrounding her father’s behavior. As the ground and her world gradually crumble around her, she chooses to break free, not only from fear, but above all from complicity.”

Studio13/Valais Film Commission Award
Estimated value of CHF 12,000 for five days of studio use at Studio13.
Yazz, see above

Ticino Film Commission Residence Award
Two-day location scout (CHF 4,000) plus a letter of intent for financial support up to CHF 12,000 if the project films in Ticino.
Le Règne des Silures (Reign of Silures) – dir. Jessica Puppo, prod. Alexis Perrin (Rumble Fish Productions, France).

Synopsis: “Maïa is a devoted concierge at a luxury thermal palace on the shores of Lake Geneva, where giant catfish – silures – are burned as scapegoats for a plague that cracks human skin like parched earth. When her teenage sister Léonie is placed in her care, the hotel seals itself off as a gilded fortress from the dying world beyond. As fissures begin to spread across her own body, Maïa must choose between the palace that gave her a place in the world and the sister who reminds her what it cost.”

Statement: “We were particularly struck by the project’s strong and organic connection to the Swiss-Italian landscape. Its themes of environmental fragility, social inequality, labour and belonging resonate strongly with the identity of our region. We were also impressed by Jessica Puppo’s distinctive cinematic voice and by the ambitious combination of author filmmaking, ecological storytelling and body horror.”

Alphapanda Market Breakout Award
Consultancy services valued at EUR 3,500.
Third Take – dir. Bruce LaBruce, prod. Nicolas Brevière (Local Films, France).

Synopsis: “Set in a not-so-distant future, two iconic actresses, once madly in love, reunite in a drought-stricken villa, isolated from the world for a chaotic film shoot destined to become the epiphany of their decayed romance.”

Statement: “The winner of the Alphapanda Market Breakout Award is a cinematic explosion of campness and queerness, but also an hommage to the history of film with a truly cinephile approach. Thanks to its five lesbian characters played by goddesses of cinema, we are convinced that the film will make audiences happy, disgusted and wet.”

MidPoint Consulting Award
Online script consultancy with a MidPoint Institute expert.
Les Orages Magnétiques (Magnetic Storms), see above

LOCARNO HERITAGE RESTORATION CONTEST
A complete restoration by film lab Cinegrell. The restored film will celebrate its premiere at the 2027 edition of the Locarno Film Festival.
Nous sommes tous encore ici (We’re All Still Here, 1997) – dir. Anne-Marie Miéville, represented by Anne-Marie Miéville and L’atelier / Casa Azul Films.

Jury statement: “First presented at the festival in 1997, Nous sommes tous encore ici is an essential work of Swiss cinema by one of the country’s leading female directors. In the year of its 30th anniversary, this restoration offers a long-overdue opportunity to rediscover both the film and the work of a major filmmaker, whose contribution to Swiss cinema deserves renewed recognition, as Locarno approaches its 80th edition.”

The global box office is humming with Sony/Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossing the $1 billion threshold abroad in 12 days of release, the second-fastest to do so after Avengers: Endgame. The Destin Daniel Cretton movie is now the 12th highest ever at the worldwide B.O. with $1.67B ($655M domestic, $1.01B overseas). Brand New Day is chasing history with more records in store and $2 billion global soon within its reach.

Brand New Day becomes the 16th movie to gross north of $1B at the foreign box office.

Earlier today, Universal’s The Odyssey became Christopher Nolan’s highest grossing movie ever of his career with $1.1B.

Brand New Day, as we told you, charted $145M stateside, the third highest second weekend ever at the North American B.O. and one of eight movies to ever gross more than $100M in its second weekend. Pic’s $655M stateside running cume is the most a movie has ever made over ten days.

For the most part, the movie was No. 1 everyone in its 67 markets at 72,800 plus screens — except for Korea where Universal’s The Odyssey docked grabbing a No. 1 take of $14.5M. Brand New Day was $10.8M there, -47% for a running cume of $43.2M. Overall global second weekend for the Tom Holland-Zenaya movie is $381M with $236M coming from offshore, a 48% ease.

China again led the international weekend with $29.1M for a cume of $186.7M. Brand New Day became India’s biggest Hollywood release ever, after a $10.6M weekend taking its tally to $52.8M. Brazil delivered the frame’s best hold among top 10 markets, -33% for $13.4M and a $46.3M cume.

Other top weekend results are UK ($16.0M, -49%, $87.4M cume), Mexico ($15.3M, -51%, $65.8M cume), France ($13.9M, -50%, $49.2M cume), Australia ($12.0M, -44%, $39.1M cume), Germany ($10.5M, -35%, $37.6M cume), and Italy ($6.3M, -54%, $31.1M cume)

Universal’s The Odyssey saw a fourth global weekend of $110.7M with $79.2M from overseas ($643.6M running foreign cume) and $31.5M domestic ($461.1M). As we told you at $1.1 billion, it’s the second biggest R-rated movie ever behind Deadpool & Wolverine‘s $1.33B.

Korea’s start of $14.5M is the biggest in Nolan’s career in the market, ahead of Dark Knight Rises. It’s also Uni’s second-biggest opening weekend ever, only behind JW: Fallen Kingdom. It also achieved the biggest ever August opening weekend for an MPA title, and the second-biggest MPA opening weekend of the year, only behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Odyssey owned 44% share of the whole market on Saturday. This follows a fantastic Wednesday start that achieved the studio’s biggest non-holiday opening day ever in the market, the second biggest MPA opening day of the year behind Spider-Man, and the third biggest opening day ever for a Nolan film in Korea, only behind Oppenheimer (which released on a national holiday) and The Dark Knight Rises. Audience reactions are excellent, with a great CGV Egg Score of 97%. Imax drove close to 20% of pic’s opening day gross. In its opening weekend alone, Odyssey bested the lifetimes of No Time to Die and Tenet.

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The villainous Mayor Humdinger in the PAW Patrol television show and movies is not a character with whom one should sympathize. But I have to admit that I identified with him more than a little while watching the animated characters’ third big-screen effort. When his canine enemies are mentioned in PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, he asks, “PAW Patrol? Are they still a thing?” And later he admits, “There are so many of them I can barely remember their names.” So true, so true.

These are not movies for adults by any stretch, but younger, and I mean younger, audiences have clearly embraced the adorable puppy search-and-rescue team, so their adult chaperones might as well give in and bring them to a matinee showing. And it must be said that while the material is thoroughly juvenile, the films impart valuable messages to their impressionable viewers.

Here’s a sampling from this one alone: “Making mistakes is how you learn and get better, and never give up.” And, “I don’t need you to be perfect, I just need you to give it everything you’ve got.” Or, “Once you set your mind to something, there’s nothing you can’t do.” You half-expect an animated version of Tony Robbins to make an appearance.

The PAW Patrol crew must be doing well, because as this film begins, they’re on the high seas with their 10-year-old human leader Ryder (Henry Bolan) in what looks like an aircraft carrier. In the first of many action sequences, they rescue a family whose fishing vessel has caught fire. The father is played by Snoop Dogg, who, it must be said, has come a long way image-wise from “Gin and Juice” and “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang.”

Not long afterward, their ship runs aground on an uncharted island heavily populated by dinosaurs. Oh, and a rescue pup, Rex (Hayden Chamberlen), who’s a dino expert and doesn’t let his disability prevent him from getting around easily with the aid of a doggie wheelchair (I told you the film had positive messages).

At first the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, I mean Dino Island, seem menacing. But of course, they’re not, with the cutest being Rhubarb, a baby T-Rex whose inflatable riding version is already available on Amazon for a mere $39.95. Because let’s face it, the only thing kids like more than puppies are dinosaurs.

Mayor Humdinger, once again voiced by the invaluable Ron Pardo, provides the evil vibes along with his criminal gang of felines. Newly released from prison, he immediately abandons his plans to go straight when he sees news coverage of Dino Island and recognizes huge diamonds in the background. Along with his henchman Harper (Meredith MacNeill) and explosives expert Alistair (Terry Crews), he heads to the island to cause the sort of trouble for which he’s become infamous.

Along the way, PAW Patrol get to do what they do best, namely engaging in harrowing missions including the daring rescue of a Brontosaurus stuck in a ravine. There’s also a scary dinosaur stampede, a volcano eruption and, oh yes, dino poop jokes. It’s all accompanied by Pinar Toprak’s score doing its best John Williams impression.

The plucky pups are as endearing as ever, including dalmatian fire dog Marshall (Carter Young), who’s prominently featured in a flashback depicting his dogged (sorry) try-out for the team, and cockapoo aviatrix Skye (Mckenna Grace, the ringer in the canine voice cast). As for the others, did I mention there are so many of them I can barely remember their names?

Speaking of names, the starry voice cast includes the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Fortune Feimster, Bill Nye, and Paris Hilton, and one can only hope that parents can appropriately explain to their youngsters who exactly each of them are. There’s also the obligatory jaunty pop song, “Bottle Up,” sung by the Backstreet Boys and whose composers include Ed Sheeran.

I could go on, but that would take away from your time online ordering the latest PAW Patrol products, including the Kids’ Bike ($119.99 at Target), the Dino Rescue Responder ($26.88 at Walmart), the Megasaurus Dino Vehicle ($64.99 at Amazon), and countless others. What are you waiting for? Christmas is just around the corner.