The Mubi Award – Debut Feature at Locarno will be decided by a jury made up of Moroccan director-producer Khalil Benkirane, Alma Pöysti and Esmé Sciaroni.
The Locarno Film Festival has announced a new collaboration with Mubi, the film producer, distributor and streaming service, to introduce the Mubi Award – Debut Feature. This new accolade will honour a first-time director presenting their film as a world or international premiere during the festival’s 77th edition.
The 77th Locarno Film Festival will take place from August 7 to 17, 2024.
The award will be determined by the Locarno Film Festival’s First Feature jury, which includes Moroccan director-producer Khalil Benkirane from the Doha Film Institute, Finnish actress Alma Pöysti, known for her role in Aki Kaurismäki’s Mubi-distributed film Fallen Leaves (2023), and prominent make-up artist Esmé Sciaroni, recently seen in Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera (2023).
Founded in 2007 by Efe Çakarel, Mubi is a global film distributor, production company and streaming service that specialises in creating, curating, acquiring and promoting visionary films worldwide. Mubi’s portfolio includes notable debut features such as Aftersun by Charlotte Wells, How to Have Sex by Molly Manning Walker and Medusa Deluxe by Thomas Hardiman, which premiered at Locarno’s Piazza Grande in 2022. The platform has also supported Limbo by Ben Sharrock, Hot Milk by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Mubi Productions’ Bring Them Down by Christopher Andrews, among others.
The new Mubi Award – Debut Feature will grant CHF 10,000 ($11,000), to be divided equally between the director and producer of the winning film. This prize aims to celebrate innovative storytelling and the artistic potential of the medium, highlighting new works that will influence the future of cinema.
Efe Çakarel, Founder and CEO of Mubi, said: “Elevating great cinema, and the filmmakers that create it, really is why Mubi exists. We truly hope that this prize helps a new generation of storytellers bring their visions and voices to life. We can’t wait to see their future-masterpieces, and to share them with the world on Mubi.”
Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director, Locarno Film Festival, added: “A new and prestigious collaboration to support emerging cinema even more incisively and convincingly than before. We’re very glad to be collaborating with MUBI on a new award capable of opening unprecedented avenues and potentialities for young and auteur cinema, thus defending artistic freedom and creativity. This is a new partnership but a longstanding mission: an award for the cinema today that sets the foundations for the cinema of tomorrow.”
The award ceremony at which the Mubi Award – Debut Feature will be given, together with the other awards, will take place in the GranRex on Saturday, August 17 at 2.30 PM, and be livestreamed on the Locarno Film Festival website.
