Locarno Film Festival 2026 will honour James Gray with its career award.
James Gray will be in Locarno for the first time where he will also show his new film, Paper Tiger.
Gray is the only US filmmaker to have six films play in Cannes Competition this century.
Acclaimed US filmmaker James Gray will receive this year's Locarno Film Festival lifetime career award in Piazza Grande on Sunday August 9, before presenting his latest film, Paper Tiger. Two older films from his filmography will also feature in the programme for Locarno79: We Own the Night (2007) and Two Lovers (2008). Paper Tiger was recently announced as the opening film of this year's New York Film Festival.
“James Gray is the last great novelist of American cinema. His films form a rich body of work that echoes the Jewish diaspora, film noir, and Russian as well as North American literature,” said Locarno Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro.
“A filmmaker with a humanist sensibility and profound cinephile knowledge, he has experimented with genres such as science fiction and adventure while retaining his own artistic identity and voice. Celebrating James Gray at the Locarno Film Festival means paying tribute to a unique and unmistakable artist, a filmmaker who speaks the language of cinema and knows how to pass it onto future generations", he added.
It will be a nice celebration of Gray's first trip to Locarno for Gray who first launched onto the international festival scene in 1994 at the age of 25 with Venice Silver Lion-winning drama Little Odessa, inspired by his own upbringing in New York’s Russian-Jewish community.
The Pardo alla Carriera has previously been awarded to Francesco Rosi, Claude Goretta, Bruno Ganz, Claudia Cardinale, Johnnie To, Harry Belafonte, Peter-Christian Fueter, Sergio Castellitto, Otar Iosseliani, Víctor Erice, Marlen Khutsiev, Bulle Ogier, Mario Adorf, Jane Birkin, Fredi M. Murer, Dante Spinotti, Costa-Gavras, Tsai Ming-liang, Shah Rukh Khan and, in 2025, to Jackie Chan.
James Gray's Rich Career Has Been Regularly Celebrated At Cannes
Gray has also been a Cannes Competition fixture. In this year's edition, he brought his sixth film, Paper Tiger. Over the years, he has brought five films to the Croisette – Armageddon Time, The Immigrant, Two Lovers, We Own the Night, The Yards — and he also served on the Cannes jury in 2009, when Isabelle Huppert presided. Neon is backing Paper Tiger that stars Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johnansson.
The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival will take place from 5 to 15 August 2026.
