The Girl From Nowhere Takes Top Locarno Film Festival Honors

French film The Girl From Nowhere took top honors at the 65th Locarno Film Festival over the weekend, winning the Swiss festival's to Golden Leopard (Pardo d'oro) prize, while Ying Liang won Best Director for When Night Falls. American director Bob Byington's Somebody Up There Likes Me won the second prize at the event.

The Girl From Nowhere centers on Michel, a retired math teacher who has lived alone since his wife’s death and occupies his time writing an essay about the beliefs that shape daily life. One day he comes across Dora, a young homeless woman, who shows up injured on his doorstep, and puts her up until she recovers. Her presence brings something new to Michel’s life, but gradually the apartment becomes the site of mysterious happenings.

The winners follow with information provided by the Locarno Film Festival (Film descriptions can be found at Locarno's website):

Concorso internazionale
Pardo d’oro 
La Fille de Nulle Part (The Girl From Nowhere) by Jean-Claude Brisseau, France

Premio speciale della giuria 

Somebody Up There Likes Me by Bob Byington, United States

Pardo per la migliore regia (Best Director)
 Ying Liang for the film Wo Hai You Hua Yao Shuo(When Night Falls), South Korea/China

Pardo per la miglior interpretazione femminile (Best Actress) 
An Nai for the film Wo Hai You Hua Yao Shuo(When Night Falls) by Ying Liang, South Korea/China

Pardo per la miglior interpretazione maschile (Best Actor)

Walter Saabel for the film Der Glanz Des Tages (The Shine of Day) by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Austria

Special mention
 to the extraordinary character Candy from the film
A Ultima Vez Que vi Macau due to her powerful presence through absence which resonated for the Jury as representing the immense courage of Portuguese cinema in times when the failures of government and social systems threaten the cinematic arts worldwide.
 
Concorso Cineasti del presente
Pardo d’oro Cineasti del presente – Premio George Foundation 
Inori by Pedro González-Rubio, Japan

Premio per il miglior regista emergente (Best Director) 
Joel Potrykus for the film Ape United States

Premio speciale della giuria Ciné+ Cineasti del presente 

Not In Tel Aviv by Nony Geffen, Israel

Special Mention
 Tectonics by Peter Bo Rappmund, United States
 
Opera Prima
Pardo per la migliore opera prima (Best First Feature)

Ji Yi Wang Zhe Wo (Memories Look At Me) by SONG Fang, China
Special Mention
Apeby Joel Potrykus, United States
 
Pardi di domani
Concorso internazionale
Pardino d’oro for the Best International Short Film

The Mass of Men by Gabriel Gauchet, United Kingdom

Pardino d’argento 

Yaderni Wydhody (Nuclear Waste) by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, Ukraine

Special Mention

Los Retratos (Portraits) by Iván D. Gaona, Colombia

Locarno short film nominee for the European Film Awards - Premio Pianific

Back of Beyond by Michael Lennox, United Kingdom

The Film und Video Untertitelung Prize

O Que Arde Cura (As the Flames Rose) ba João Rui Guerra da Mata, Portugal
Concorso nazionale

Pardino d’oro for the Best Swiss Short Film

Radio Active (Radio-active) by Nathan Hofstetter, Switzerland

Pardino d’argento

L'Amour Begue (Stammering Love) by Jan Czarlewski, Switzerland

Premio Action Light for the Best Swiss Newcomer

Il Vulcano (The Volcano) by Alice Riva, Switzerland
 
Piazza Grande
Prix du Public UBS 
Lore by Cate Shortland, Germany/Australia/ United Kingdom
Variety Piazza Grande Award
Camille Redouble by Noémie Lvovsky, France