Locarno Film Festival First Locarno Peace Prize goes to Mohammad Rasoulof
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasulof has been awarded the first "Premio Locarno Città della Pace". This was announced on Monday at the Locarno Film Festival. The prize was established to mark the 100th anniversary of the Locarno Peace Conference.
11.08.2025, 18:01
11.08.2025, 22:00
SDA
Mohammad Rasoulof is a "master of poetic and at the same time political cinema", wrote the city and film festival in a joint statement. He deals with themes such as freedom, individual responsibility and human dignity "with great power and profundity".
Rasoulof won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale for his film "There Is No Evil" and the Special Jury Prize at Cannes 2024 for "The Seed of the Sacred Fig". In the same year, the director was sentenced to eight years in prison and flogged in Iran. Shortly before his arrest, he managed to flee the country.
Ruth Dreifuss on the jury
The prize was awarded on the fringes of the film festival on the traditional "Day of Diplomacy". It honors personalities from the field of culture who have made a special contribution to peace, diplomacy and dialogue between peoples, according to the film festival and the city of Locarno.
The prize, which is awarded every two years, is intended to strengthen Locarno's international role as a symbolic city of exchange and peaceful coexistence. The jury for the first prize included former Federal Councillor Ruth Dreifuss.
