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Locarno Film Festival expands youth programming with inaugural Locarno Kids competition and children’s jury for 2026
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Culture/The Apex Times/Jul 2, 5:05 AM EDT

Locarno Film Festival expands youth programming with inaugural Locarno Kids competition and children’s jury for 2026

Organizers at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival unveiled the 2026 Locarno Kids Screenings, introducing a first-time competitive section judged by a youth jury aged 11 to 15, with seven films set to compete for the Locarno Kids Award supported by la Mobiliare.

3 min readEditor-approved Apex article

The Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland has unveiled its 2026 Locarno Kids Screenings, along with a new inaugural competitive section and a jury made up of children aged 11 to 15, organizers announced on Thursday. The festival said the program is designed as a “journey” that balances accessibility for the youngest viewers with what it described as the complexities of contemporary life, and it will be judged on an official youth jury rather than by adult jurors alone.

In a statement carried by The Hollywood Reporter, Daniela Persico, the programmer for Locarno Kids Screenings, said the festival aimed to create “a journey that is both surprising and accessible even to the youngest viewers, without shying away from the complexities of the contemporary world.” Persico added that the selection seeks to raise questions connected to education, the environment, and society, while centering young protagonists who are “accompanied by animal guides and loyal friends” as they navigate what the festival described as a “challenging path toward independence.”

Organizers said the films in the inaugural competition are feature-length titles arriving from around the globe, and all seven selected entries are world premieres or international premieres. The festival did not provide full casting or production details in the announcement, but it said the slate reflects a range of cinematic traditions and genres, all positioned for family viewing.

The competition will award the Locarno Kids Award, with la Mobiliare named as the partner behind the prize. The youth jury will be responsible for selecting the winners, and the festival positioned the new jury as a way to put children’s perspectives at the center of how the festival’s family-facing films are evaluated.

Among the titles mentioned in the festival announcement were DERBORENCE LE TEMPS DES ANIMAUX (DERBORENCE THE AGE OF ANIMALS), directed by Vincent Chabloz, and IF LUCK WILL COME, directed by Camille Bildsøe. Organizers said additional selected films round out the seven-entry lineup for the first edition of the competition.

The introduction of a competitive element marks a shift for Locarno Kids Screenings, which organizers previously described as focused on curating films for younger audiences. By adding a competition and formal youth jury, the festival is aligning its family program with other festival competition structures, while keeping the decision-making role explicitly in the hands of the age-targeted jury.

For audiences, the practical effect is that the festival’s youth slate will include announced premiere films with a built-in judging process led by children, potentially shaping which family-oriented stories receive the festival’s top youth recognition. For filmmakers, the new Locarno Kids Award creates an additional route for international exposure within a major European festival framework, timed to the festival’s 2026 edition.

For the festival itself, the change also introduces a new operational requirement, including managing a structured selection process for youth jury members and running the competition according to festival rules. While the announcement did not detail the timeline beyond the Thursday unveiling and the 2026 edition context, it sets the framework for how the inaugural jury-driven prize will be handled during Locarno’s 2026 program.

Why It Matters

  • The new youth-led competition formalizes children’s participation in festival decision-making and may influence how family films are curated and recognized.
  • Because all seven entries are premieres, the section creates a concentrated platform for debut international titles aimed at young audiences.
  • The Locarno Kids Award expands the range of awards connected to the festival’s family programming, adding a distinct prize track for filmmakers.
  • The stated focus on education, the environment, and society indicates that the festival intends to treat youth cinema as engaging with real-world themes, not only entertainment.
  • Running a competition with a children’s jury adds additional procedural and logistical steps for the festival during its 2026 edition.

Sources

Key Facts

  • Locarno Film Festival unveiled its 2026 Locarno Kids Screenings on Thursday, adding an inaugural competitive section.
  • The youth jury for the Locarno Kids competition will be aged 11 to 15.
  • Seven films will compete for the Locarno Kids Award supported by la Mobiliare, and all are world or international premieres.
  • Programmer Daniela Persico said the program is intended to be accessible to the youngest viewers while addressing complexities of contemporary life.
  • Persico said the films raise questions related to education, the environment, and society.
  • The announcement named DERBORENCE LE TEMPS DES ANIMAUX (DERBORENCE THE AGE OF ANIMALS) by Vincent Chabloz and IF LUCK WILL COME by Camille Bildsøe as entries in the inaugural competition.
Locarno Film Festival expands youth programming with inaugural Locarno Kids competition and children’s jury for 2026 | The Apex Times