Emma Thompson receives Leopard Club Award: Filmstiftung-backed thriller “The Dead of Winter” on the Piazza Grande at the 78th Locarno Film Festival

Emma Thompson, who plays the lead role in Brian Kirk’s “The Dead of Winter”, will receive the Leopard Club Award at the 78th Locarno Film Festival (August 6-16, 2025). This has just been announced by the management of the Swiss film festival. At the same time, it was announced that her latest film, co-produced by Cologne-based augenschein Filmproduktion, largely shot in NRW and funded by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW with 1 million Euros, will celebrate its world premiere in Locarno. "The Dead of Winter” will be shown on the famous Piazza Grande, which can accommodate many thousands of visitors – a special open-air cinema experience in a historic setting. Almost half of the shooting days took place in North Rhine-Westphalia, including the MMC studios in Cologne and Bonn.

Walid Nakschbandi, Managing Director of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW: “Congratulations, Dame Emma Thompson! And also congratulations to augenschein on the invitation to Locarno and the world premiere of their co-production on the legendary Piazza Grande! It is a wonderful coincidence that an exceptional actress like Emma Thompson is honored with the Leopard Club Award and at the same time shines in a Filmstiftung-funded production – and a strong signal for the international appeal of North Rhine-Westphalia as a film location as well as for the creative radiance of films from NRW. We are looking forward to an unforgettable premiere evening and an impressive presence at one of the most important film festivals in Europe.”

The Leopard Club, the official promotional organisation of the Locarno Film Festival, presents the Leopard Club Award annually to a personality whose work has had a lasting impact on the collective cinematic memory. Previous winners include Adrien Brody, Meg Ryan and Hilary Swank. This year’s award ceremony will take place on Friday evening, 8 August 2025, in Piazza Grande.

About the content of “The Dead of Winter”:

A widowed fisherwoman (Emma Thompson), traveling alone through snowy northern Minnesota, witnesses the kidnapping of a teenage girl (Laurel Marsden). Miles away from the nearest town and without cell phone reception, she realizes that she is the young woman’s only hope …

Directed by Brian Kirk (“Game of Thrones”, “21 Bridges”), the survival thriller stars Emma Thompson (“Sense and Sensibility”, “Child Welfare”) as Fisherwoman, Judy Greer (“Jurassic Park”) as Purple Lady and Marc Menchaca (“Homeland”) as Camo Jacket. Other roles are played by newcomers Laurel Marsden (“Ms. Marvel”) and Gaia Wise (“Picnic with Bears”). The screenplay was written by Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb.

“The Dead of Winter” is a production of augenschein Filmproduktion and Stampede Ventures in co-production with Leonine Studios and ZDF. The film was supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW with 1 million Euros.

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW at the Locarno Film Festival

The Locarno Film Festival is one of the most important international film festivals. Numerous films supported by the Filmstiftung have already celebrated their world premieres here on the Piazza Grande or in competition and won prizes. 2023 “Touched” by Claudia Rorarius and “A Good Place” by Katharina Huber won prizes in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition for young filmmakers.