Sigurjón Sighvatsson to Receive Locarno Rezzonico Award
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- Sigurjón "Joni" Sighvatsson will receive the honorary Raimondo Rezzonico Award at this year's Locarno Film Festival, which runs August 5 to 15, with the award presented on August 6.
- As part of the tribute, Sighvatsson will present two of his feature credits — David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990) and Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon's Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait (2006).
- Sighvatsson has produced more than 60 feature films and TV series across his decades-long career, most notably Twin Peaks (1990-91) and Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-2000).
- He has collaborated with filmmakers including Nicolas Winding Refn and Jim Sheridan, and artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, per the festival's announcement.
- Locarno Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro credited Sighvatsson with shaping a "politique du producteur," saying his work is "characterised by a deeply European perspective but immersed in the workings of the industry in the United States."
- Previous Raimondo Rezzonico Award recipients include Beirut-based production house Abbout Productions (led by Georges Schoucair and Myriam Sassine) and producer Marianne Slot.
- Nazzaro called Sighvatsson's instinct as a producer something that "profoundly influenced the course of '90s cinema" and made him "a point of reference for a whole generation of filmmakers."
Why it matters: Sighvatsson joins a select list of Rezzonico honorees that includes Abbout Productions and Marianne Slot, cementing his standing as a generational producer whose transatlantic career — European sensibility applied inside the U.S. industry — shaped landmark '90s cinema and TV. The Locarno platform will reintroduce his catalog to a new festival audience through screenings of Wild at Heart and Zidane on August 6.
