The 2026 Locarno Film Festival will honor a trailblazing Iceland-born, U.S.-based film, music video and TV producer who has been behind some of the most popular and renowned movies and series of the past decades: Sigurjón “Joni” Sighvatsson. He will be celebrated with the Raimondo Rezzonico Award in the Swiss town’s Piazza Grande on the evening of Aug. 6, with the official program screening two key films from his career: David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (1990) and Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon’s soccer icon documentary Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait (2006).
“Whether as co-founder of Propaganda Films in 1986 – a powerhouse that once produced a third of all music videos in the United States, including early works by Zack Snyder, Spike Jonze, Gore Verbinski, Michael Bay and co-founder David Fincher – or as producer for David Lynch’s Palme d’Or winner Wild at Heart and Julian Schnabel’s groundbreaking Basquiat (1996), [he] has played a crucial role in seeking out new talent and in shaping the pop aesthetics of the modern era,” Locarno said on Tuesday. “Over a remarkable career, he has produced over 60 feature films or TV series – notably Twin Peaks (1990-91) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000) – and championed auteur-driven projects that boldly tested the limits of the medium.”
Added the fest: “Sighvatsson’s collaborations with filmmakers like Nicolas Winding Refn and Jim Sheridan – as well as artists like Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno – have yielded cult classics that continue to exert a powerful influence on younger filmmakers around the world.”
Said Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro: “Characterized by a deeply European perspective but immersed in the workings of the industry in the United States, Sigurjón ‘Joni’ Sighvatsson shaped a true ‘politique du producteur,’ allowing artists, such as David Lynch, to create their works in complete freedom and supporting authors, such as Kathryn Bigelow, to make some of the most personal films of her career. His instinct as a producer profoundly influenced the course of ’90s cinema, while his attitude of favoring originality and independence as a principle made him a point of reference for a whole generation of filmmakers who looked to Sighvatsson’s work as a model of audacity, integrity, creativity and vision.”
The Raimondo Rezzonico Award, offered by the Municipality of Minusio in Switzerland, was established in 2002 in memory of the man who was president of the Locarno festival 1981-1999. The 79th edition of Locarno will take place Aug. 5-15.
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