James Gray to Be Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, organizers of the Locarno International Film Festival have announced that they will honor the acclaimed American filmmaker James Gray with a Lifetime Achievement Award at their upcoming edition. The tribute will coincide with a screening of the director’s latest feature film, Paper Tiger.
Gray will receive the prestigious Pardo d’onore Manor Lifetime Achievement Award on August 9, 2026. He will screen Paper Tiger, which previously premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, at Locarno’s famous open-air venue, the Piazza Grande. Set in 1986, the film follows two brothers, Erwin (played by Miles Teller) and Gary Perl (played by Adam Driver); when Erwin embroils himself in a dangerous get-rich-quick scheme with the Russian mob, his brother Gary, a former cop, becomes the only person who can save him. The film has also been selected as the opening night film for the 64th New York Film Festival. In addition to his latest work, two other titles from Gray’s filmography—2007’s We Own the Night and 2008’s Two Lovers—will be screened in Locarno as part of the tribute.
Praising the filmmaker, Locarno’s Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro stated: “James Gray is the last great novelist of American cinema. His rich body of work reflects on identity, film noir, and North American and Russian literature. He is a filmmaker with humanistic sensibilities and a profound knowledge of cinema, who has explored genres like science fiction and adventure while always maintaining his independent identity and artistic voice.”
Gray joins an illustrious list of past recipients of this prestigious Locarno accolade, which includes legendary figures such as Francesco Rosi, Bruno Ganz, Claudia Cardinale, Johnnie To, Harry Belafonte, Jane Birkin, Costa-Gavras, Tsai Ming-liang, Shah Rukh Khan, and Jackie Chan. The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival will take place from August 5 to 15, 2026.
