The 79th Locarno Film Festival has named Zoe Saldaña as this year's recipient of the Special Pardo, the festival announced July 31. Saldaña will attend the festival in Locarno, Switzerland, where a special public conversation is scheduled for August 10. The festival runs August 5 through 15.
The honor arrives more than a year after Saldaña's Oscar win. Her performance as lawyer Rita Mora Castro in Jacques Audiard's Emilia Pérez brought her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 97th ceremony in March 2025, along with the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Award. In her acceptance speech, Saldaña became the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award.
Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro leads the 79th edition, which selected 233 films from 7,759 submissions, including 103 world premieres. The festival opens with Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh's The Green Eyes. Main competition jury president is Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz.
Saldaña joins a class of 2026 Locarno honorees that includes Darren Aronofsky (Pardo d'Onore), Isabella Rossellini (Excellence Award), Asia Argento (Life Achievement Award), and special effects artist Rick Baker (Vision Award). Composer Claudio Simonetti, known for his scores of Suspiria and Dawn of the Dead, will also receive a special honour on August 6.
