Cinema buffs of the world, get ready! The leopard is about to be on the loose again! Attendees of the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in the Italian part of Switzerland will get to spot the famous symbol and mascot of the annual celebration of cinema, and its gold or yellow and black colors, on all sorts of posters and bunting, on festival merchandise and on street and shop decorations all over town. In other words: Locarno will be covered in leopard print.
Fans of the festival will, similar to a big cat, be on the hunt for new and old cinematic gems in the lineup put together by artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro and his team for Locarno79.
Of course, the Pardo d’Oro, or Golden Leopard, the top prize at Locarno, and other Leopard awards will be coveted prey for filmmakers throughout the festival program. Before the juries decide the 2026 winners at the end of Locarno79, which runs Aug. 5-15, organizers will also bestow Leopard honors upon various big names.
Director James Gray, for example, will receive the Career Leopard, or Pardo alla Carriera. Director Darren Aronofsky will be honored with the Honorary Leopard (Pardo d’Onore), while Belgian-born actress Virginie Efira will be the recipient of the Leopard Club Award. And Zoe Saldaña will be awarded a Special Leopard.
In other words, as is Locarno tradition, the leopard will be all over town throughout the annual showcase of cinema in all its forms.
That has been the case since the fest introduced the leopard as its signature animal in 1968, when its top award was officially renamed the Golden Leopard, which also ensured that it could be distinguished from Venice’s Golden Lion and Rotterdam’s Tiger.
Did you know that there is an actual leopard that is the current public face of the Locarno festival? After the same leopard served as its face since 2008, the team traveled to the Cotswolds in England in 2023 to meet Bagheera, the real-life leopard who has represented the Swiss fest on the world stage since 2024.
Michele Jannuzzi of Jannuzzi Smith was the creative director, with wildlife photographer Tim Flach handling the shoot that captured still photos and the animal’s movements for the festival’s pre-film trailers.
The leopard can even be seen on banners, posters and walls behind press conferences, at times making it seem as if it was taking a bite out of cinema history – or roaring at famous or up-and-coming actors, directors and other creatives. Just check out the photo with Willem Dafoe from the 2025 edition of the fest above.
Of course, the leopard is also a symbol, for example for the Locarno festival’s adventurous approach to cinema. “The leopard is different from a lion, in the sense that it’s a bit faster, it’s leaner, and it inhabits the feline kingdom in a very specific way,” Nazzaro tells THR.
“It’s a bit on the fringes, but this way it lives on the fringes of the savanna and the jungle is very central,” he concludes. “It’s also a very elegant animal, and it’s a very quick animal. So the king and the lion are always where they are supposed to be. The leopard goes where it wants.”
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