| Location | Locarno, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1946 |
| Awards | Golden Leopard: The Idlers of the Fertile Valley directed by Nikos Panayotopoulos |
| Artistic director | Jean-Pierre Brossard |
| No. of films | 108 |
| Festival date | Opening: 3 August 1978 Closing: 13 August 1978 |
| Website | Locarno Film Festival |
The 31st Locarno Film Festival was held from 3 to 13 August 1978 in Locarno, Switzerland. [1] The festival featured 22 films in competition from 18 countries, while 86 films were screened out of competition. [1] [2] American films were well represented at the festival this year with John Cassavetes' Opening Night featuring and the Bronze Leopard, the festival's third prize, being awarded to Girlfriends directed by Claudia Weill. [2]
A key element this year was the retrospective for famed director and Locarno local Douglas Sirk, [2] who had often attended the festival in the past. [3] [4] This was also the year Jean-Pierre Brossard became the new festival head, following the departure of artistic director Moritz de Hadeln. [2] [1]
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to The Idlers of the Fertile Valley directed by Nikos Panayotopoulos. [5] [6]
Source: [1]
The following films were screened in these sections: [7]
Main Program / Feature Films In Competition
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baara | Work | Souleymane Cissé | Mali |
| Bako, L'Autre Rive | Bako, the Other Bank | Jacques Champreux | Senegal, France |
| Burlesk Queen | Burlesque Queen | Celso Ad. Castillo | Philippines |
| Buyut Fi Dhalika Al-Zuqaq | Bouthuut Fi Dhalika Al-Zuq | Kassem Hawel | Iraq |
| Cseplo Gyuri | Pal Schiffer | Hungary | |
| Das Zweite Erwachen Der Christa Klages | The Second Awakening of Christa Klages | Margarethe Von Trotta | Germany |
| Diamante Bruto | Rough Diamond | Orlando Senna | Brazil |
| Fingers | James Toback | USA | |
| Girlfriends | Claudia Weill | USA | |
| Hoshizora No Marionette | The Starry Sky's Marrione | Hojin Hashiura | Japan |
| I Tembelides Tis Eforis Kiladas | The Idlers of the Fertile Valley | Nikos Panayotopoulos | Greece |
| Kleine Frieren Auch Im Sommer | Small Freezes in Summer | Peter von Gunten | Switzerland |
| La Morte Al Lavoro | Death at Work | Gianni Amelio | Italia |
| La Petite Ville D'Anara | The Small Town of Anara | Irakly Kvirikadzé | Russia |
| La Tortue Sur Le Dos | The Turtle on the Back | Luc Béraud | France |
| Le Toit | The Roof | Ivan Antonov | Bulgaria |
| Miris Poljskog Cveca | The Fragrance of the Polish Flowers | Srdjan Karanovic | Yugoslavia |
| Non Contate Su Di Noi | Don't Count on Us | Sergio Nuti | Italia |
| On Efface Tout | We Erase Everything | Pascal Vidal | France |
| Pokoj Z Widokiem Na Morze | Room with a Sea View | Janusz Zaorski | Poland |
| Two Solitudes | Lionel Chetwind | Canada | |
| Una Mujer, Un Hombre, Una Ciudad | A Woman, a Man, a City | Manuel Octavio Gomez | Cuba |
| Open Forum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| China 9, Liberty 37 | Monte Hellman | Italy | ||
| Die Allseitig Reduzierte Persönlichkeit-Redupers | The all-Sided Reduced Personality Redupers | Helke Sanders | Germany | |
| Fluchtweg Nach Marseille | Escape Path to Marseille | Ingemo Engstöm, Gerhard Theuring | Germany | |
| Harlan County | Barbara Kopple | United States | ||
| Il Regno Di Napoli | The Kingdom of Naples | Werner Schroeter | Germany | |
| L'Albero Degli Zoccoli | The Clog Tree | Ermanno Olmi | Italy | |
| Lulu | Roland Chase | United States | ||
| Olyan, Mint Otthon | It's Like at Home | Marta Meszaros | Hungary | |
| Opening Night | John Cassavetes | United States | ||
| Roberte | Robert | Pierre Zucca | France | |
| The Gardener'S Son | Richard Pearce | United States | ||
| Word Is Out | Marisposa Film Group | United States | ||
| Information Screenings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Angel City | Jon Jost | United States | ||
| Docteur Poenaru | Dinu Tanase | Romania | ||
| Kanchana Sita | Govindan Arivindan | India | ||
| La Rabia | The Rage | Eugeni Anglada | Spain | |
| La Vie T'En As Qu'Une | Life you Have One | Jean-Pierre Etard, Abraham Ségal | France | |
| Last Chant | Jon Jost | United States | ||
| Le Prix De La Liberte | The Price of Freedom | Jean-Pierre Dikongué-Pipa | Cameroon | |
| Le Saut Du Toit | The Roof Jump | Vladimir Grigoriev | Russia | |
| Madame X - Eine Absolute Herrscherin | Madame X - An Absolute Ruler | Ulrike Ottinger Ottinger | Germany | |
| Young Authors On Italian Television (1977-1978) RAI Network | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Ancora Un Giorno | One more Day | Mimmo Rafele | Italy | |
| Aspetterò | I will Wait | Mario Foglietti | Italy | |
| Cantar Di Tempi Oscuri | Sing of Dark Times | Nino Bizzarri | Italy | |
| Figlioli Miei Marxisti Immaginari | My Children's Imaginary Marxists | Franco Albano | Italy | |
| Il Grande Bob | He Big Bob | Nanni Fabbri | Italy | |
| La Macchina Cinema | The Cinema Machine | Silvano Agosti, Marco Bellocchio | Italy | |
| Marcello | Salvatore Piscicelli | Italy | ||
| Metallurgic Disco | Nereo Rapetti | Italy | ||
| Michele Alla Ricerca Della Felicità | Michele in Search of Happiness | Alberto Grifi | Italy | |
| Morte Di Un Operatore | Death of an Operator | Faliero Rosati | Italy | |
| Nell'Agro Pontino | In the Pontine Countryside | Nicolò Ferrari | Italy | |
| Quasi Un Uomo | Almost a Man | Oddo Bracci | Italy | |
| Storia Senza Parole | Story without Words | Biagio Proietti | Italy | |
| Vent'Anni Di Tre Generazioni: L'Amore | Twenty Years of Three Generations: Love | Giuseppe Bellecca | Italy | |
| Retrospective Douglas Sirk | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Accord Final | Douglas Sirk, Ignacy Rosenkranz Bay | 1939 | France, Switzerland | |
| All I Desire | Douglas Sirk | 1953 | USA | |
| All That Heaven Allows | Douglas Sirk | 1955 | USA | |
| Das Hofkonzert | The Court Concert | Douglas Sirk | 1936 | Germany |
| Das Mädchen Von Moorhof | The Girl from Moorhof | Douglas Sirk | 1935 | Germany |
| Hitler'S Madman | Douglas Sirk | 1942 | USA | |
| Imitation Of Life | Douglas Sirk | 1958 | USA | |
| Lured/Personal Column | Douglas Sirk | 1946 | USA | |
| No Room For The Groom | Douglas Sirk | 1952 | USA | |
| Schlussakkord | Final Chord | Douglas Sirk | 1936 | Germany |
| Sprich Zu Mir Wie Der Regen | Speak to Me Like the Rain | Douglas Sirk | 1975 | Germany |
| Summer Storm | Douglas Sirk | 1944 | USA | |
| Sylvesternacht | Sylvestern Night | Douglas Sirk | 1977 | Germany |
| The Tarnished Angels | Douglas Sirk | 1957 | USA | |
| Written In The Wind | Douglas Sirk | 1956 | USA | |
| FIPRESCI - International Federation of Film Critics Week | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| A Scandal In Paris | Douglas Sirk | 1945 | USA | |
| Entends Le Coq | Hear the Rooster | Stéphane Dimitrov | Bulgaria | |
| Filmroman | Movie Novel | Istva Darday, Yörgyi Szalai | Hungary | |
| In Alle Stilte | In all of Them | Ralf Boumans | Belgium | |
| La Lutte Des Aveugles | The Struggle of the Blind | Marie Hadzimichalis-Papalios | Greece | |
| La Mort Du Grand-Père Ou Le Sommeil Du Juste | The Death of the Grandfather or the Sleep of the Just | Jacqueline Veuve | Switzerland | |
| Ruzove Sny | Ruzova Dreams | Dusan Hanak | Czech Republic | |
| Sous-Ets | Sub-Statements | Yaky Yosha | Israel | |
| Swiss Information - Feature Films | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Alzir Oder Der Neue Kontinent | Alzir or the New Continent | Thomas Koerfer | Switzerland | |
| Chronik Von Prugiasco | Chronicle of Prugiasco | Remo Legnazzi | Switzerland | |
| Das Blut An Den Lippen Des Liebenden | The Blood on the Lovers' Lips | Christian Schocher | Switzerland | |
| Le Desert Des Mediocres | The Desert of Mediocres | Hank Vogel | Switzerland | |
| Reperages | Reperes | Michel Soutter | Switzerland | |
| Stillleben | Still Life | Elisabeth Gujer | Switzerland | |
| Südseereise | South Seed | Sebastian C. Schroeder | Switzerland | |
| Tauwetter | Markus Imhoof | Switzerland | ||
| Swiss Information - Medium-Length Films | ||||
| Eiskalte Vögel | Ice Cold Birds | Urs Egger | Switzerland | |
| Horizonville | Alain Klarer | Switzerland | ||
| Hotel Locarno | Locarno Hotel | Bernard Weber | Switzerland | |
| Mir Si Ir Glicheschtrass Ufgwachse | I Like the | Remo Legnazzi | Switzerland | |
| Palm Beach | Michel Bory | Switzerland | ||
| Swiss Information - Short Animation Films | ||||
| Anima | Ernst Ansorge, Gisèle Ansorge | Switzerland | ||
| Aventures | Adventures | Otmar Gutmann | Switzerland | |
| Das Kleine Trickfilmbrevier | The Small Cartoon Brevivier | Dany Hummel, Jörg Stadler | Switzerland | |
| Die Nummer | The Number | Peter Haas | Switzerland | |
| Elzeard | Roberto Ostinelli | Switzerland | ||
| Etude De La Biologie Animale | Study of Animal Biology | Robi Engler | Switzerland | |
| Fitness | Gilbert Mayer | Switzerland | ||
| Hors-Jeu | Offside | Georges Schwizgebel | Switzerland | |
| La Cage Du Loup | The Wolf Cage | Martial Wannaz | Switzerland | |
| Made In Hong-Kong | Georges Dufaux | Switzerland | ||
| Marche Noir | Black Market | Claude Luyet | Switzerland | |
| One Of Those Quiet Days In The Tube Factory | Heinz Schmid | Switzerland | ||
| Smile 1 + 2 + 3 | Giisèle Ansorge, Ernst Ansorge | Switzerland | ||
| Swiss Graffiti | Monique Renault, Jacqueline Veuve | Switzerland | ||
| The Four Seasons | Hans Glanzmann | Switzerland | ||