Golshifteh Farahani Gets Locarno Honor From Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Calls Cinema a “Refuge” in a “Dark World”
It was a very emotional Locarno opening night as Iranian female power, Gaza, and Armenia got the spotlight on the first night of the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival on Wednesday. Iran-born actress Golshifteh Farahani received a big and cordial Swiss welcome and the Excellence Award Davide Campari on the picturesque lakeside town’s Piazza Grande square. And in a special surprise, she was handed the award by fellow Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi.
“I thought this prize should go to you, to all of us, to us, in this obscure, dark world,” Farahani told the Locarno crowd in an emotional acceptance speech. “We still believe in art and culture. We take refuge in cinema. We watch movies, movies in which everyone is included. We feel love, anger, jealousy, no matter which side of the frontier we live on, no matter which God we believe in, no matter where we pray, no matter which nationality we are. We watch movies from all over the world, especially in Locarno. And this is where humanity somehow comes together.”
Continued the star: “I think really this excellence prize goes to all of you. Each of you is a candle in this darkness. We are here celebrating human values in grace and dignity. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being such a great light in this dark world, because now we are shining very, very bright. And we will change this world through art, through culture. We will do it all together.”
Amir Ebrahimi also kept it emotional, telling Farahani: “Thank you for being my soul sister, for being there for me and everyone who needs you every single moment of your life. You inspire us, all of us, me and many others, every single moment you exist. I love you.” The audience erupted into applause as the two women hugged before walking off the stage together.
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Farahani is also in town to present her most recent film, Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, which premiered in the competition at Cannes this year, at the Swiss festival and take part in a public conversation with the festival audience.
After Farahani’s award ceremony, the Locarno opening film In the Land of Arto screened on the square’s big outdoor screen. Tamara Stepanyan’s drama, which stars Camille Cottin and Amir Ebrahimi, follows a French woman who arrives in Armenia and discovers that her dead husband lied about his identity.
Before the movie and award ceremony, Stepanyan, Amir Ebrahimi, and other members of the Arto creative team discussed the movie, Armenian history, and honor of opening Locarno.
Then, the festival served up a little surprise for the opening night audience in the form of a video message by Cottin, who can’t be in Locarno due to other commitments.
“I’m sorry I cannot be at your side, Tamara, but I just wanted to thank you again for inviting me on this incredible journey, both artistic and geographical,” Cottin said. “It was an unforgettable experience to travel through that country, Armenia, that I had never known before. I know how emotional it must be for you to be standing there, because you’ve been working on this film for many years, and both in terms of the political and personal perspective, this film means a lot to you.”
Farahani, born in Tehran in 1983, emerged as an acting talent at an early age, leading to her breakthrough role in Dariush Mehrjui’s The Pear Tree in 1998. The actress previously visited Locarno to present the Rajasthan-set The Song of Scorpions (2017) on the Piazza Grande.
During Wednesday’s opening event, Giona A. Nazzaro lauded Farahani “an incredibly talented artist, and someone that has always told us how to stand our ground, how to be creative with choices and how she has always refused to be pigeonholed in roles, and always explored the possibilities of what an artist, an actor, could do.”
He also mentioned Gaza in his Italian comments, citing that the 2025 fest selection includes “films that have questioned us about the state of the world and too many wars that continue to involve millions of innocent people,” according to an online translation of his speech. “As a community and as individuals, we have the duty to always keep our eyes open, especially when it comes to places where suffering is a daily struggle, and therefore denounce the intolerable destruction of Gaza and the terrible humanitarian tragedy that is affecting the Palestinian people through the systematic violence of bombs and oppression.”
Farahani is one of several big-name Iranian film creatives attending Locarno78. Amir Ebrahimi stars in the opening film, while director Jafar Panahi is presenting his Cannes Palme d’Or winner, It Was Just an Accident, and Mohammad Rasoulof is also in town.
The 2025 Locarno festival runs through Aug. 16.
