A Ghanaian Debut Leaves the Locarno Film Festival With Two Prizes
GHANA · FILM
Key Facts
—Two prizes for a first feature: Amartei Armar’s Ego Reach We All (Our Time Will Come) won the Pardo for Change, worth CHF 20,000 to the director, and the Pardo for Best Performance for its lead, Idrissu Tontie Jr.
—Three countries in the credits: The film is a Ghana, France and Saudi Arabia co-production, and it world-premiered on 7 August in the Filmmakers of the Present competition.
—Shot in Ghana, in three languages: It runs 105 minutes and is spoken in Twi, Ga and Pidgin.
—An Egyptian short also took a prize: Mahmoud Assi’s Khufu, a co-production of Egypt, France, Sweden and Canada, won the Pardino d’Argento in the international short-film competition, worth CHF 5,000.
—Not the top award: The festival’s Pardo d’oro went to Florin Șerban’s You Don’t Belong Here from Romania, worth CHF 75,000. The Pardo for Change is a separate thematic prize with its own jury.
—Each of the three juries included an African or diaspora member: Tunisia’s Afef Ben Mahmoud sat on the Filmmakers of the Present jury, Somali-Austrian director Mo Harawe on the Pardo for Change jury, and South Africa’s Steven Markovitz on the short-film jury.
—A record industry turnout: Locarno Pro registered 2,140 industry accreditations, up 10 per cent from 1,940 and above 2,000 for the first time, drawn from nearly 100 countries.
A first feature from Ghana left the Locarno Film Festival on 15 August with two prizes. Amartei Armar’s Ego Reach We All (Our Time Will Come) took the Pardo for Change and a best performance award for its young lead, Idrissu Tontie Jr.
What won at the Locarno Film Festival
The 79th edition ran from 5 to 15 August, closing with the awards at the GranRex. Armar’s film competed in Concorso Cineasti del Presente, the festival’s competition for emerging directors, where it world-premiered on 7 August.
It left with two awards. The Pardo for Change carries CHF 20,000 for the director, and Idrissu Tontie Jr. won the Pardo for Best Performance in the same competition.
It is worth being precise about what these prizes are. The Pardo for Change is a thematic award judged by its own three-person jury across the whole programme, judged by its own three-person jury across the whole programme, and it is not the festival’s top honour.
That went elsewhere. The Pardo d’oro and its CHF 75,000 were awarded to Florin Șerban’s You Don’t Belong Here from Romania.
The film itself
The story follows two orphans, Owusu and Adobea, crossing the Ghanaian countryside in search of the last surviving parent who could restore their legal identities. In Accra they fall in with the Jackals, a group of abandoned young people living on picked locks and small theft.
It runs 105 minutes and is spoken in Twi, Ga and Pidgin. It was shot in Ghana.
The feature grew out of Armar’s 2018 short Vagabonds. He is Ghanaian-American and trained in film production at the University of British Columbia.
He later relocated to Ghana, where he co-founded the production company A.K.A. Entertainment.
A debut in a language mix that has almost no export history, taking two prizes at a European A-list festival, is a genuinely unusual outcome. It did not need embellishing, which is why the inflated versions circulating are a shame.
Follow the money, not the trophies
The more revealing detail sits in the credits rather than the palmarès. This is a Ghana, France and Saudi Arabia co-production.
The Saudi line has a traceable origin. Vagabonds won a US$100,000 production award at the Red Sea Souk in 2022, and that support carried through to the feature.
Gulf money entering African film financing is the same movement visible in African ports, power and mining, arriving in a softer form. It buys presence and relationships rather than tonnage.
French co-production support remains the older and larger channel. What is new is that it now sits beside Riyadh in the same set of credits.
Africa’s wider presence at the festival
Egypt also took a prize. Mahmoud Assi’s short Khufu, a co-production of Egypt, France, Sweden and Canada, won the Pardino d’Argento in the international short-film competition, worth CHF 5,000.
Each of the three juries included an African or diaspora member: Tunisia’s Afef Ben Mahmoud on the Filmmakers of the Present jury, Somali-Austrian director Mo Harawe on the Pardo for Change jury and South Africa’s Steven Markovitz on the short-film jury. Tunisia’s Afef Ben Mahmoud sat on the Filmmakers of the Present jury, Somali-Austrian director Mo Harawe on the Pardo for Change jury and South Africa’s Steven Markovitz on the short-film jury.
The Piazza Grande carried an African film too, though not a winning one. Rafiki Fariala’s Congo Boy, a Central African Republic, DR Congo, France and Italy co-production, screened on 11 August after its world premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, where its lead Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset won best actor.
The industry side set a record. Locarno Pro registered 2,140 accreditations, up 10 per cent from 1,940 and above 2,000 for the first time, with delegates from nearly 100 countries.
Why this matters beyond the festival
African cinema’s problem has rarely been talent. It has been financing structures, and the absence of a route from a short film to a feature with real money behind it.
Armar’s path — a short, an award at a Gulf market, a European co-production, a festival premiere — is a working template. That it produced two prizes on the first attempt makes it a template worth studying.
The autumn calendar will show whether it holds. Venice runs from 2 to 12 September and Toronto from 10 to 20 September, with African productions programmed at both.
For a reader watching where capital moves, the credits on a Ghanaian debut are a small but honest indicator. The money is coming from more directions than it used to.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Ghanaian film win at Locarno?
Amartei Armar’s Ego Reach We All (Our Time Will Come) won the Pardo for Change, worth CHF 20,000 to the director, and the Pardo for Best Performance for its lead Idrissu Tontie Jr. in the Filmmakers of the Present competition.
Was it the top prize at the Locarno Film Festival?
No. The Pardo d’oro and CHF 75,000 went to Florin Șerban’s You Don’t Belong Here from Romania. The Pardo for Change is a separate thematic award with its own jury.
Who financed the film?
It is a Ghana, France and Saudi Arabia co-production. The Saudi involvement traces to a US$100,000 production award won by Armar’s 2018 short Vagabonds at the Red Sea Souk in 2022.
What is the film about?
Two orphans, Owusu and Adobea, cross the Ghanaian countryside searching for the last surviving parent who could restore their legal identities, and fall in with a group of abandoned young people in Accra. It runs 105 minutes in Twi, Ga and Pidgin.
Did any other African film win at Locarno in 2026?
Yes. Mahmoud Assi’s short Khufu, a co-production of Egypt, France, Sweden and Canada, won the Pardino d’Argento in the international short-film competition, worth CHF 5,000.
Connected Coverage
African film financing keeps widening, a shift also visible in the US$5 billion plan to keep Africa’s cotton jobs at home and in the corporate dealmaking described in Africa’s corporate acquisition wave. The capital flows behind it are the subject of Africa: The New Scramble.
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