The professional platform of the Locarno Film Festival has announced the winners of its First Look, Spanish Previews, and Alliance 4 Development initiatives, which aim to support emerging talent, boost international co-productions, and preserve cinematic heritage. The activities took place from August 8 to 10.

In the First Look section—dedicated this year to six Canadian projects thanks to a partnership with Telefilm Canada—the jury composed of Franck Finance-Madureira, Kim Yutani, and Jacqueline Lyanga granted the Urban Post First Look Award and the Jannuzzi Smith Award to Nina Roza by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles (Canada/Italy/Belgium/Bulgaria). The former includes post-production services valued at 50,000 Swiss francs (€53,000), and the latter an international poster design worth €10,000. The work stood out for integrating music and art into a story about identity, exile, and belonging.

Other recognitions in this category went to Thanks to the Hard Work of the Elephants by Bryce Hodgson (Canada), which received €45,000 in music supervision from Music Library & SFX/Acorde, and Lunar Sway by Nick Butler (Canada), awarded the Cineground Award for image finishing services (CHF 15,000 / €15,914) and the Le Film Français Award for advertising space (€5,600).

The newly launched Spanish Previews segment granted its first Antaviana Spanish Previews Award to Lóngquán: The Dragon Spring by Adrià Guxens (Spain), which will receive €10,000 in post-production services, including editing and color grading.

In the field of co-production, the Alliance 4 Development program—which brings together projects from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland—awarded the first Masé Studio Award (CHF 3,000) to Dark Chocolate by Valentin Merz (Switzerland), as well as post-production prizes totaling CHF 35,000 (€37,135) to In the Hidden by Goran Rebić (Austria/Luxembourg/Slovakia) and Snow by Jenna Hasse (Switzerland).

The Flowering of a Chimera by Simon Maria Kubiena (Austria) won the Alphapanda Market Breakout Award (€3,500 in consultancy) and the MIDPOINT Consulting Award for its treatment of violence and healing. The jury also granted a Special Mention to Primo Viaggio by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman (Italy).

The French residency DreamAgo Script Consultancy, supported by the Valais Film Commission, awarded CHF 5,000 (€5,304) to Najma and Salomé by Anne Zinn-Justin (France) for its story about the alliance between two women in the face of illness and distrust.

The Ticino Film Commission granted Solastalgia by Yosr Gasmi and Mauro Mazzocchi (Italy/Tunisia) a residency that includes a two-day location scouting and a letter of intent for up to CHF 12,000 (€12,731) in production support.

Finally, the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest honored Letter from My Village (1975) by pioneering Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye, which will be restored and premiered at the 2026 edition of the festival, paying tribute to her legacy as a key figure in African cinema and a trailblazer for women filmmakers.