The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled the winners of the project and incubator initiatives gathered under its Locarno Pro umbrella and spanning First Look, Alliance 4 Development, and Open Doors
For Open Doors, Talemwa Pius’s A Vineyard For A Lobster (Uganda), Mohammed Sheikh’s Accept My Plea for Burial (Somalia) and Aseye Fiagbe’s Too Much Music (Ghana) shared 50,000 Swiss Francs ($61k) main prize sponsored by Switzerland‘s Visions Sud Est fund.
Pius’s absurdist political allegory, about a drought-hit Ugandan village which awakes to snowfall, and Sheikh’s social thriller, revolving around the accidental death of a young boy in a remote Somali village, both received 20,000 CHF ($24k), while Fiagbe’s music documentary was awarded 10,000 CHF ($12k).
The year-round Open Doors project and talent incubator is in the second year of a four-year cycle devoted to 42 countries across Africa. Some 25 participants connected to six projects gathered in person in Locarno for six days of mentoring and networking during the festival this year.
In other Open Door prizes, Mozambique director Ique Langa’s fantasy romance Chapa 100, won the CNC Development Grant worth € 8,000 ($9.2k). Tanzanian director Neema Ngelime’s feminist drama The Ones With the Tempered Flowers, about a woman left with conflicted feelings after she is told it is unlikely she will be able to bear children, won the ARTEKino International Award, worth € 6,000 ($6.9k), and the Sørfond Award, under which it will participate in the Sørfond pitching event in Oslo November.
Additionally, Open Doors partners IFFR Pro, the International Culture Center Tabakalera and San Sebastian Film Festival, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), and Sørfond also provided awards to participants. There were also new awards sponsored by EAVE, together with the Film Fund Luxembourg, and African Film Press (AFP) LLC. Scroll down for full list.
In other Locarno Pro 2026 awards (announced separately on Sunday), the First Look work-in-progress showcase devoted to Uruguayan films this year meted out a number of collateral prizes.
Gabriela Guillermo and Irina Raffo’s Spring Story (Historia de primavera), produced by Guillermo and Raffo for L’Avventura Cine and Germán Ormaechea for Animista Cine, won two awards: the Bright Side of the Moon First Look Award, which comes with complete colour grading services, and the Le Film Français Award, worth €5,600 in advertising space.
The jury, comprising Ana David (Programme Advisor at Berlinale), Susana Santos Rodrigues (Co-Director of IndieLisboa), and Triin Tramberg (Artistic Director of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival), praised the film “for its candid depiction of longing and desire which connects those who dare to be driven by it.”
Lorenzo Tocco’s The Surubí, produced by Pancho Magnou Arnabal and Isabel García (Montelona) and co-produced by Kocria (Brazil), took home three awards: the La Mayor Cine Award, which comes with complete sound post-production services, the Music Library & SFX/Acorde Award, worth EUR 45,000 in music supervision services at Music Library & SFX’s labs, and the Jannuzzi Smith Award, the design of an international poster worth EUR 10,000.
In the Alliance 4 Development showcase, aimed at nurturing project co-development between film professionals based in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, Florian Hoffmann’s Yazz, produced by Katrin Renz (tellfilm Switzerland), Nicole Gerhards (NiKo Film, Germany) and Xénia Maingot (Eaux Vives Productions, France), took home the NEBEL Studios Award, estimated at CHF 30,500 for three days of studio use and five days of camera equipment, and the Studio13/Valais Film Commission Award, estimated at CHF 12,000 for 5 days of studio use at Studio13.
Antonio Donato’s Shooting Watermelons, produced by Santiago Fondevila Sancet (Cinedora, Italy), received the Masé Studios Award, worth a CHF 3,000 cash voucher.
The Masé Studios Post-Production Award, worth CHF 25,000 in post-production services, was shared Tamer Ruggl’s Cuore Matto, produced by Francine Lusser and Gérard Monier (Tipimages Productions, Switzerland), and Wendy Pillonel’s Magnetic Storms (Les Orages Magnétiques), produced by Flavia Zanon (Close Up Films, Switzerland).
Jessica Puppo’s Reign of Silures (Le Règne des Silures), produced by Alexis Perrin (Rumble Fish Productions, France), won the Ticino Film Commission Residence Award: a two-day location scout (worth CHF 4,000) plus a Letter of Intent for financial support up to CHF 12,000 should the film shoot in Ticino.
Bruce LaBruce’s Third Take, produced by Nicolas Brevière (Local Films, France), took the Alphapanda Market Breakout Award (consultancy services worth €3,500), and Magnetic Storms also picked up the MIDPOINT Consulting Award, an online script consultancy with a MIDPOINT Institute expert.
In further Locarno Pro prizes, the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest was won by Anne-Marie Miéville’s 1997 work We’re All Still Here, a three-part meditation on philosophy and everyday life featuring Jean-Luc Godard in a rare on-screen role.
Selected by an international jury composed of Amy Homma (Director and President, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection), Leslie Vuchot (CEO and Founder, The Festival Agency), and Nicole T. Allemann (Head of Film Restoration and Lab, Cinegrell Postproduction), the film will undergo a complete restoration by Swiss film lab Cinegrell, to premiere at the 2027 edition of Locarno.
Open Doors Grant Vineyard For A Lobster (Uganda)Dir: Talemwa PiusProd: Emmanuel Gashumba (Gripmagic Uganda Limited) Uganda
Accept My Plea for Burial (Somalia/Djibouti)Dir: Mohammed SheikhProd: Kadir Harbi (Aleel Films) Somalia/Djibouti
Too Much Music (Ghana)Dir: Aseye FiagbeProd: Aseye Fiagbe (Aseye Fiagbe Creative Studio)
CNC Development Grant Chapa 100 (Mozambique)Dir: Ique LangaProd: Lara Sousa (Kulunga Filmes)
ARTEKino International Award The Ones with the Tempered Flowers (Tanzania, Kenya)Dir: Neema NgelimeProd: Ivy Kiru (LBx Africa)
Sørfond Award The Ones with the Tempered Flowers (Tanzania/Kenya)Dir: Neema NgelimeProd: Ivy Kiru (LBx Africa)
EAVE Award Mamounata Nikiema (Pilumpiku Production), Burkina Faso
Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival Residency Award I Live in V.I. (Nigeria)Dir: Ugochukwu AzuyaProd: Olubunmi Ogunsola (ENSEMBLE)
Rotterdam Lab Award Adja Mariam Mahre Soro (Studio KÄ), Ivory Coast
Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) Sarah (Angola)Dir: Pocas Pascoal
AFP Critics Prize Submergido (Mozambique)Dir: Ariel AñezProd: Joseph MataCo-prod: Ariel Añez (Maochas Filmes)
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