Special awards
In Piazza Grande, thanks to the Locarno Film Festival App, the public is the jury
Since 2000 the Prix du Public UBS, the only official award of the Festival to be awarded by the Piazza Grande audience, has been presented to films that are likely to make history. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Prix du Public UBS, and for the first time ever spectators can rate the Piazza Grande films digitally, using the new official Locarno Film Festival App.
The Prix du Public UBS, worth CHF 30,000, is decided solely on the basis of the audience vote and will be presented at the official award ceremony on Saturday, 15 August 2020.
Over the years, the Prix du Public UBS has often proved to be an important indicator of the commercial success of the films. In recent years, films such as Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick (2017), Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake (2016) and Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar (2011) have enjoyed considerable success. The film The Life of Others, winner of the “Prix du Public UBS” in 2006, also won an Oscar for best foreign language film. Recently, Spike Lee’s film BlacKkKlansman won an Oscar only a few months after thrilling the audience in the Piazza Grande.
UBS has been a partner of the Locarno Film Festival since 1981 and is particularly pleased to promote the important role of the audience in the Piazza Grande with the Prix du Public UBS.
Visitors are asked to vote while they are still in the Piazza Grande or at the Palexpo FEVI. The voting function is disabled outside of these places.
UBS wishes all the spectators of the Locarno Film Festival an unforgettable cultural experience.
