# Golden Leopard

The Golden Leopard (Italian: Pardo d'oro) is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be entered in the competitive selection. The winning films are chosen by a jury. The award went under many names until it was named the Golden Leopard in 1968. The festival was not held in 1951 and the prize was not awarded in 1956 and 1982. As of 2024 René Clair is the only director to have won the award twice, winning in the first two years of the festival.

## Winners

For the first two years the award was known as Best Film (Miglior film). Then for several years the award went by the name of Grand Prize (Gran premio). In 1950 and 1951 the award was from the International Jury of Journalists (Giuria internazionale dei giornalisti); in 1953 and 1954 the award was from the International Jury of Critics (Giuria internazionale della critica); in 1955 the award was from the Jury of Swiss-Italian Radio (Giuria della Radio della Svizzera Italiana); in 1957 the award was from the Jury of the Swiss Association of Cinematographic Press (Giuria dell'Associazione Svizzera della stampa cinematografica). In 1958 and 1960–65 the award was the Golden Sail (Vela d'oro). In 1959 it was the Prize for Best Direction (Premio per la migliore regia). In 1966 and 1967 the prize was the Grand Prize of the Jury of Youth (Gran premio della Giuria dei giovani). Finally, it became the Golden Leopard in 1968.
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production Country |
| 1946 | And Then There Were None | And Then There Were None | René Clair | United States |
| 1947 | Man About Town | Le silence est d'or | René Clair & Robert Pirosh | France, United States |
| 1948 | Germany Year Zero | Germania, anno zero | Roberto Rossellini | Italy, France, Germany |
| 1949 | The Farm of Seven Sins | La ferme des sept péchés | Jean Devaivre | France |
| 1950 | When Willie Comes Marching Home | When Willie Comes Marching Home | John Ford | United States |
| 1952 | Hunted | Hunted | Charles Crichton | United Kingdom |
| 1953 | Julius Caesar | Julius Caesar | David Bradley | United States |
| 1953 | The Composer Glinka | Композитор Глинка | Grigori Aleksandrov | Soviet Union |
| 1953 | The Glass Wall | The Glass Wall | Maxwell Shane | United States |
| 1954 | Gate of Hell | 地獄門 | Teinosuke Kinugasa | Japan |
| 1954 | The Sheep Has Five Legs | Le mouton à cinq pattes | Henri Verneuil | France, United States |
| 1954 | Rotation | Rotation | Wolfgang Staudte | East Germany |
| 1955 | Carmen Jones | Carmen Jones | Otto Preminger | United States |
| 1955 | The Emperor's Nightingale | Císařův slavík | Jiří Trnka | Czechoslovakia |
| 1957 | Il grido | Il grido | Michelangelo Antonioni | Italy, United States |
| 1958 | Ten North Frederick | Ten North Frederick | Philip Dunne | United States |
| 1959 | Killer's Kiss | Killer's Kiss | Stanley Kubrick | United States |
| 1960 | Il bell'Antonio | Il bell'Antonio | Mauro Bolognini | Italy |
| 1961 | Fires on the Plain | 野火 | Kon Ichikawa | Japan |
| 1962 | The Winner | Un cœur gros comme ça | François Reichenbach | France |
| 1963 | Transport from Paradise | Transport z ráje | Zbyněk Brynych | Czechoslovakia |
| 1964 | Black Peter | Černý Petr | Miloš Forman | Czechoslovakia |
| 1965 | Four in the Morning | Four in the Morning | Anthony Simmons | United Kingdom |
| 1966 | Everyday Courage | Každý den odvahu | Evald Schorm | Czechoslovakia |
| 1967 | Entranced Earth | Terra em Transe | Glauber Rocha | Brazil |
| 1968 | The Visionaries | I visionari | Maurizio Ponzi | Italy |
| 1969 | Charles, Dead or Alive | Charles mort ou vif | Alain Tanner | Switzerland |
| 1969 | Those Who Wear Glasses | Szemüvegesek | Sándor Simó | Hungary |
| 1969 | Three Sad Tigers | Tres tristes tigres | Raoul Ruiz | Chile |
| 1969 | No Path Through Fire | В огне брода нет | Gleb Panfilov | Soviet Union |
| 1970 | End of the Road | End of the Road | Aram Avakian | United States |
| 1970 | Lilika | Лилика | Branko Pleša | Yugoslavia |
| 1970 | This Transient Life | 無常 | Akio Jissoji | Japan |
| 1970 | Soleil O | Soleil Ô | Med Hondo | Mauritania, France |
| 1971 | They Have Changed Their Face | Hanno cambiato faccia | Corrado Farina | Italy |
| 1971 | On the Point of Death | In punto di morte | Mario Garriba | Italy |
| 1971 | The Friends | Les amis | Gérard Blain | France |
| 1971 | Private Road | Private Road | Barney Platts-Mills | United Kingdom |
| 1971 | Signs on the Road | Znaki na drodze | Andrzej Jerzy Piotrowski | Poland |
| 1972 | Bleak Moments | Bleak Moments | Mike Leigh | United Kingdom |
| 1973 | The Illumination | Iluminacja | Krzysztof Zanussi | Poland |
| 1974 | 25 Fireman's Street | Tűzoltó utca 25. | István Szabó | Hungary |
| 1975 | The Son of Amir Is Dead | Le fils d'Amr est mort | Jean-Jacques Andrien | Belgium, France, Tunisia |
| 1976 | The Big Night | Le grand soir | Francis Reusser | Switzerland |
| 1977 | Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison | Antonio Gramsci: i giorni del carcere | Lino Del Fra | Italy |
| 1978 | The Idlers of the Fertile Valley | Οι Τεμπέληδες της εύφορης κοιλάδας | Nikos Panayotopoulos | Greece |
| 1979 | The Herd | Sürü | Zeki Ökten & Yılmaz Güney | Turkey |
| 1980 | To Love the Damned | Maledetti vi amerò | Marco Tullio Giordana | Italy |
| 1981 | The Vicious Circle | Chakra | Rabindra Dharmaraj | India |
| 1983 | The Princess | Adj király katonát! | Pál Erdöss | Hungary |
| 1984 | Stranger Than Paradise | Stranger Than Paradise | Jim Jarmusch | United States, West Germany |
| 1985 | Alpine Fire | Höhenfeuer | Fredi M. Murer | Switzerland |
| 1986 | Lake of Constance | Jezioro Bodeńskie | Janusz Zaorski | Poland |
| 1987 | The Jester | O Bobo | José Álvaro Morais | Portugal |
| 1988 | Distant Voices, Still Lives | Distant Voices, Still Lives | Terence Davies | United Kingdom |
| 1988 | Schmetterlinge | Schmetterlinge | Wolfgang Becker | West Germany |
| 1989 | Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? | 달마가 동쪽으로 간 까닭은? | Bae Yong-kyun | South Korea |
| 1990 | Accidental Waltz | Случайный вальс | Svetlana Proskurina | Soviet Union |
| 1991 | Johnny Suede | Johnny Suede | Tom DiCillo | France, United States, Switzerland |
| 1992 | Autumn Moon | 秋月 | Clara Law | Hong Kong, Japan |
| 1993 | The Place on a Grey Tricorne | Azghyin ushtykzyn'azaby | Yermek Shinarbayev | Kazakhstan |
| 1994 | Khomreh | خمره | Ebrahim Forouzesh | Iran |
| 1995 | Raï | Raï | Thomas Gilou | France |
| 1996 | Nenette and Boni | Nénette et Boni | Claire Denis | France |
| 1997 | The Mirror | آینه | Jafar Panahi | Iran |
| 1998 | Mr. Zhao | 趙先生 | Lü Yue | China, Hong Kong |
| 1999 | Skin of Man, Heart of Beast | Peau d’homme, cœur de bête | Hélène Angel | France |
| 2000 | Father | 冤家父子 | Shuo Wang | China |
| 2001 | Off to the Revolution by a 2CV | Alla rivoluzione sulla due cavalli | Maurizio Sciarra | Italy |
| 2002 | The Longing | Das Verlangen | Iain Dilthey | Germany |
| 2003 | Khamosh Pani | خاموش پانی | Sabiha Sumar | Pakistan, France, Germany |
| 2004 | Private | Private | Saverio Costanzo | Italy |
| 2005 | Nine Lives | Nine Lives | Rodrigo García | United States |
| 2006 | Das Fräulein | Das Fräulein | Andrea Staka | Switzerland, Germany |
| 2007 | The Rebirth | 愛の予感 | Masahiro Kobayashi | Japan |
| 2008 | Parque Vía | Parque Vía | Enrique Rivero | Mexico |
| 2009 | She, a Chinese | She, a Chinese | Xiaolu Guo | United Kingdom, France, Germany, China |
| 2010 | Winter Vacation | 寒假 | Hongqi Li | China |
| 2011 | Back to Stay | Abrir puertas y ventanas | Milagros Mumenthaler | Argentina, Switzerland, Netherlands |
| 2012 | The Girl from Nowhere | La fille de nulle part | Jean-Claude Brisseau | France |
| 2013 | Story of My Death | Història de la meva mort | Albert Serra | Spain, France |
| 2014 | From What Is Before | Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon | Lav Diaz | Philippines |
| 2015 | Right Now, Wrong Then | 지금은 맞고 그때는 틀리다 | Hong Sang-soo | South Korea |
| 2016 | Godless | Безбог | Ralitza Petrova | Bulgaria, Denmark, France |
| 2017 | Mrs. Fang | 方绣英 | Wang Bing | China, France, Germany |
| 2018 | A Land Imagined | 幻土 | Yeo Siew Hua | Singapore, France, Netherlands |
| 2019 | Vitalina Varela | Vitalina Varela | Pedro Costa | Portugal |
| 2021 | Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash | Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas | Edwin | Indonesia, Singapore, Germany |
| 2022 | Rule 34 | Regra 34 | Júlia Murat | Brazil, France |
| 2023 | Critical Zone | منطقه بحرانی | Ali Ahmadzadeh | Iran, Germany |
| 2024 | Toxic | Akiplėša | Saulė Bliuvaitė | Lithuania |