| Location | Locarno, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1946 |
| Awards | Golden Leopard: Chakra directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj |
| Artistic director | Jean-Pierre Brossard |
| Festival date | Opening: 31 July 1981 Closing: 10 August 1981 |
| Website | LFF |
The 34th Locarno Film Festival was held from 31 July to 10 August 1981 in Locarno, Switzerland. [1] This was Jean-Pierre Brossard's last year as festival director. [2] It included a popular retrospective of 1950s U.S. films and midnight showings of films such as Polyester directed by John Waters. [1]
The screening of Pier Palo Pasolini's Salo was so crowded that it was screened twice due to audience demand. [1] There was a planned surprise showing of jury member Andrzej Żuławski's 1972 film The Devil , which had been banned by the Polish government, but the print never arrived causing Zulawski to wonder at the time if it was still banned. [1] Indeed, the film was banned in Poland until 1987. [3] [4]
The Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize, was awarded to Chakra directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj. [5] [6] [7]
Source: [7]
The following films were screened in these sections: [8]
| English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trances | Al Hal | Ahmed El Maanouni | Morocco |
| Beto Nervio and Super-Super, Against the Black Night | Beto Nervio Y Super-Super, Contra La Noche Negra | Miguel Bejo | Argentina |
| The Loveless (originally titled Breakdown) | Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery | USA | |
| Celeste | Percy Adlon | Germany | |
| Chakra | Rabindra Dharmaraj | India | |
| Diana and Django | Diana E Django | Solveig Nordlund | Portugal |
| Diva | Jean-Jacques Beneix | France | |
| Djeli | Djeli, Conte D'Aujourd'Hui | Fadika Kramo-Lanciné | Ivory Coast |
| Duet | Duetto | Tomao Sherman | Italy |
| Childish Questions | Dziecinne Pytani | Janus Zaorski | Poland |
| Land of Fire All Night Long | E Nachtlang Füürland | Clemens Klopfenstein, Remo Legnazzi | Switzerland |
| Fear Not, Jacob! | Fürchte Dich Nicht, Jakob! | Radu Gabrea | Germany |
| Death of a Tycoon | Muerte De Un Magnate | Francisco Jose Lombardi | Peru |
| Narcissus and Psyche | Narcisz Es Psyche | Gabor Body | Hungary |
| One More Chance | Sam Firstenberg | USA | |
| Pixote | Hector Babenco | Brazil | |
| Alone | Seuls | Francis Reusser | Switzerland |
| The Dark End Of The Street | Jan Egleson | USA | |
| A One-Way Ticket | Un Aller Simple | Hadj Rahim | Algérie |
| The Option, Roses of the Road | Opçao, As Rosas Da Estrada | Ozualdo Ribeira Candeias | Brazil* |
| Feature Films - Out of Competition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Akaler Sandhane | Lonely | Mrinal Sen | 1981 | India |
| Czlowiek Z Zelaza | Iron Man | Andrzej Wajda | 1981 | Poland |
| Francisca | Manoel de Oliveira | 1981 | Portugal | |
| La Femme De L'Aviateur | The Aviator's Wife | Éric Rohmer | 1981 | France |
| Looks And Smiles | Ken Loach | 1981 | Great Britain | |
| Mephisto | Istvan Szabo | 1981 | Hungary | |
| Ricomincio Da Tre | I Start Again from Three | Massimo Troisi | 1981 | Italy |
| Special Section / Out of Program | ||||
| L'Erroneo Fu | The Erroneous Was | Brenno Martignoni | 1981 | Switzerland |
| Madame Wang | Paul Morrissey | 1980 | USA | |
| Possession | Andrzej Zulawski | 1981 | France, Germany | |
| Algerian Special Sections / Week | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Boualem Zi El Gouden | Boulmem Zi-Elements | Moussa Haddad | 1980 | Algérie |
| Chebka | Ghaouti Bendeddouche | 1976 | Algérie | |
| El Faham | El Understands | Mohamed Bouamari | 1972 | Algérie |
| La Nouba Des Femmes Du Mont Chenoua | The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua | Assia Djebar | 1978 | Algérie |
| Le Retour | The Return | Benamar Bakhti | 1980 | Algérie |
| Omar Gatlato | Merzak Allouache | 1976 | Algérie | |
| Ouled Er Rih | T | Brahim Tsaki | 1979 | Algérie |
| Rakem 49 | Rakem | Mohamed Rachid Benhadj | 1980 | Algérie |
| Rih El Aures | House and | Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina | 1966 | Algérie |
| American Cinema of the 1950s | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| A Place In The Sun | George Stevens | 1951 | USA |
| A Touch Of Evil | Orson Welles | 1958 | USA |
| Asphalt Jungle | John Huston | 1950 | USA |
| Baby Doll | Elia Kazan | 1956 | USA |
| Bigger Than Life | Nicholas Ray | 1956 | USA |
| Born Yesterday | George Cukor | 1950 | USA |
| Bus Stop | Joshua Logan | 1956 | USA |
| Elmer Gantry | Richard Brooks | 1959 | USA |
| From Here To Eternity | Fred Zinnemann | 1953 | USA |
| Hollywood On Trial | David Helpern | 1976 | USA |
| Jet Pilot | Josef von Sternberg | 1951 | USA |
| North By Northwest | Alfred Hitchcock | 1959 | USA |
| Pick Up On South Street | Samuel Fuller | 1952 | USA |
| Ruby Gentry | King Vidor | 1955 | USA |
| The Hollywood Ten | John Berry | 1950 | USA |
| The Quiet American | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | 1958 | USA |
| The Searchers | John Ford | 1956 | USA |
| The Thing | Howard Hawks, Christian Nyby | 1951 | USA |
| The Wild One | Laslo Benedek | 1954 | USA |
| Wild River | Elia Kazan | 1959 | USA |
| Written On The Wind | Douglas Sirk | 1957 | USA |
A Daniel Schmid organized screening of films he selected.
| Carte Blanche to Daniel Schmid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Gertrud | Carl-Theodor Dreyer | 1946 | Denmark | |
| Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie | The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie | Luis Buñuel | 1972 | France |
| Le Diable Probablement | The Devil Probably | Robert Bresson | 1977 | France |
| Neskol'Ko Dnej Iz Zizni I.I. Oblomova | Several Days of the Life of I.I. Oblomova | Nikita Mikhalkov | 1979 | Russia |
| Salò O Le Centoventi Giornate Di Sodoma | Salò or the One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodoma | Pier Paolo Pasolini | 1976 | Italy |
| The Shangai Gesture | Josef von Sternberg | 1941 | USA | |
| Swiss Information - Feature Films | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Das Boot Ist Voll | The Boat is Full | Markus Imhoof | Switzerland | |
| Der Erfinder | The Inventor | Kurt Gloor | Switzerland | |
| Die Rückkehr (Stolz) | The Return (Proud) | Friedrich Kappeler | Switzerland | |
| Eine Vo Dene | A Vo Dene | Bruno Nick | Switzerland | |
| Heritage | Walter Marti | Switzerland | ||
| Light Years Away | Alain Tanner | Switzerland | ||
| Max Frisch, Journal I-Iii | Richard Dindo | Switzerland | ||
| Moon In Taurus | Steff Gruber | Switzerland | ||
| Nestbruch | Beat Kuert | Switzerland | ||
| Reisender Krieger | Traveler Warrior | Christian Schocher | Switzerland | |
| Samba Lento | Samba | Bruno Moll | Switzerland | |
| Sirenen-Eiland | Sirenen Island | Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch | Switzerland | |
| Zur Besserung Der Person | To Improve the Person | Heinz Bütler | Switzerland | |
| Züri Brännt | Brush Brushes | Switzerland | ||
| Swiss Information - Short And Medium-Length Films | ||||
| Beredino | Danilo Catti | Switzerland | ||
| Go West, Young Man | Urs Egger | Switzerland | ||
| La Facture D'Orgue | The Organ Bill | Frédéric Gonseth | Switzerland | |
| Le Cours Des Choses | The Course of Things | Jean-Bernard Menoud | Switzerland | |
| Poursuite | Pursuit | Robi Engler | Switzerland | |
| Pssst | B. Willy Nussbaum | Switzerland | ||
| Revol | Mona Etter-Faloughi, Charles Herberger | Switzerland | ||
| Räume Sin Hüllen, Sind Häuten, Sind Cocons | Rooms are Covers, are Skinning, are Cocons | Lukas Strebel | Switzerland | |
| Schnürz Und Schnörz | Schnürz and Schnörz | Tassilo Dellers, Sebastian Dellers | Switzerland | |
| Sweet Reading | Michel Rodde | Switzerland | ||
| FIPRESCI - International Federation of Film Critics Week | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Title | English Title | Director(s) | Year | Production Country |
| Cserepek | Pots | Istvan Gaal | Hungary | |
| Gregory'S Girl | Bill Forsyth | Great Britain | ||
| Indeks | Index | Janusz Kijowski | 1978 | Poland |
| Laufen Lernen | Learn | Jutta Brückner | Germany | |
| Le Sang Du Flamboyant | The Blood of the Flamboyant | François Migeat | France | |
| Winterstadt | Bernhard Giger | Switzerland | ||