If the film has been screened onsite or online inside the country or countries of production, it can still be submitted as an International premiere. Films eligible for the Locarno Kids: Screenings section (i.e. suitable for children from 6 to 14 years old) can also be submitted as European or Swiss premieres.

Please be aware that World premieres are favored.

• World premieres: films that never had a public screening (onsite/online);
• International premieres: films that have never been previously screened (onsite/online) outside their production countries;
• European premieres: films that had never been previously screened (onsite/online) in Europe;
• Swiss premieres: films that had never been previously screened (onsite/online) in Switzerland.

Please be aware that for the competitive sections the Locarno Film Festival usually does not select films that have been previously presented in other major European film festivals.

No, all Swiss productions and co-productions must be World premieres to be eligible to the Locarno Film Festival, included Swiss films submitted to the Locarno Kids: Screenings section.

Only if the screening was geo-blocked to the country (or countries) of production. In this case the film is still eligible as an International premiere.

If the film already had a screening during an art exhibition or in a museum – but never in a cinema (even if the venue is inside the museum) – the film is still eligible for the Locarno Film Festival (if all the other criteria are respected).

You can mark your film as a World premiere in the submission form. In case of selection elsewhere, we kindly ask you to inform us by writing an email to programming@locarnofestival.ch (for feature films) or shortfilms@locarnofestival.ch (for short and medium-length films).

Films must have been completed within the 12 (twelve) months preceding their Festival screening, therefore, the Festival will only consider films completed after August 31, 2022. 

We consider first feature the first feature-length fiction film of a director.

Special cases:

• If the director has already shot a feature documentary and would like to submit his/her first fiction, this one would be considered as a first feature.
• If the director has already co-directed a film before and would like to submit his/her first fiction directed alone, the film will be considered as a second feature.
• In case the director has already co-directed an omnibus film before and would like to submit his/her first fiction, the film will be considered as a first feature.
  Omnibus film (or Anthology film): a film consisting of several shorter films or sequences made by different directors, usually tied together by the same theme.

All genres are eligible for the Locarno Film Festival (fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, etc.).

The Locarno Film Festival accepts TV series although there is no section dedicated specifically to series.

No, the Locarno Film Festival does not have a section dedicated to VR.

Yes, the Locarno Film Festival does accept work in progress films as submissions. If you wish to submit one, we kindly ask you check the box “Work in progress version” in the entry form.

No, films submitted for previous editions of the Festival may not be resubmitted, not even in a new version.

Yes, it is possible to submit more films on our platform, although every film must be registered as a separate submission.

If you submit your film through our platform, your film will be eligible for the following sections:

• Concorso internazionale;
• Concorso Cineasti del presente (first and second features only);
• Locarno Kids: Screenings (films suitable for children from 6 to 14 years old);
• Pardi di domani (short and medium-length films not more than 59 minutes in length): the Concorso nazionale and Concorso internazionale are open, respectively, to Swiss and international short films by directors that never made a feature. The Concorso Corti d’autore is open to short films by established directors.

All other Festival sections are not open to submission.

No, when you submit your film it is not possible to apply for a specific section. If the film will be selected, the Artistic Direction will invite it to the section it feels most appropriate. The Concorso Cineasti del presente accepts first and second features only.

No, this section is not open to submission.

The fee depends on the film length and on the date on which you register it on our platform.
You can find detailed information at the top of this page.

No, in case of cancellation of the submission, or in case the film is not eligible, the registration fee cannot be reimbursed.

If you are unable to pay with a credit card, you can transfer the submission fee (in Swiss currency) to our bank account, you will find all the information here below. Please note that bank charges are the sender’s responsibility.

Bank transfer (please enter the title of the film in the transfer description): 

Beneficiary: Locarno Festival, 6601 Locarno - Switzerland 
Bank: UBS SA, Po Box - 6601 Locarno - Switzerland 
Code: SWIFT/BIC: UBSWCHZH80A - Clearing Nr. 246 
IBAN: CH48 0024 6246 4867 7708 X 

Once the payment has been received, the film submission will be complete, and you will receive a confirmation email. In case you pay by bank, we kindly ask you to write an email to programming@locarnofestival.ch (for feature films) or shortfilms@locarnofestival.ch (for short and medium-length films) to inform us.

Once you have finished filling out the submission form, you will receive a first confirmation email with a link to the payment page. Please remember that your film will not be considered until the registration fee will be received by the Festival. After the payment, you will receive a second confirmation email from which you will be able to download your invoice as well.

A screener link of the film must be added to the submission form. Films must be uploaded on Vimeo (preferably) or YouTube with the download option enabled.

The screener must be accessible until the month of July 2023. If the link or the password are no longer valid, it will not be possible to consider the film for selection. In case of issues concerning the screener, please inform us via email.

Yes, in order to be understood by all members of the Artistic Committee, all films must be submitted in their original language with English subtitles. English-language films do not require subtitles for this pre-selection phase. 

The Festival encourages to submit films via the official platform, in order to allow the Programming team to watch the films as early as possible. The Selection committee will not have the opportunity to watch films submitted on DCP before mid-June. Besides the regular submission fee, the submission of the DCP has also an extra cost of CHF 200.

If it can reassure you, each member of the Selection Committee is equipped with an excellent home-viewing system (projector, screen, quality sound), so your film would be seen in the best conditions. 

We will inform the person of reference marked in the submission via email by the end of June.

Due to high number of submissions, we kindly ask for your patience and we also remind you that the Festival is unable to provide any personal feedback in case of non-selection.

For security reasons, our team has activated a no-tracking setting on all their devices. We assure all films are watched and evaluated by the Artistic Committee.