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The fact that SRK’s charm knows no boundary, and works on everyone, transcending cultures was on full display on August 11, at the Locarno Film Festival where he became the first Indian to be given the Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award isn’t the first in Shah Rukh Khan’s awards in other countries as the Indian actor has the French highest civilian award, ‘Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur’, Morrocan highest honour ‘Wissame Al Kafaa Al Fikria’, and Malaysian equivalent of knighthood, the title of 'Datuk in his kitty.
Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism Award is one of the Locarno Film Festival Awards and has been awarded to other big names like Italian filmmaker Francesco Rosi, Malaysian Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-Liang, and American singer, actor, and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, in past few years before Shah Rukh Khan in 2024.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded as a tribute to one or more personalities whose artistic contributions have redefined cinema and the collective imagination, and apart from the award itself, Locarno Film Festival not only hosts them for the Awards ceremony on the Piazza Grande, the tribute also comprises a conversation with the audience and a small retrospective.
The artistic director at the Locarno International Film Festival, Giona A. Nazzaro, was all praises for Khan, and in his words, “This brave and daring artist has always been willing to challenge himself while remaining true to what his fans all over the world eagerly expect from his films. A true ‘people’s hero’, sophisticated and down to earth, Shah Rukh Khan is a legend of our times.”
Locarno Film Festival
Born in the aftermath of the Second World War, the Locarno Film Festival is held every year in the city of Locarno, Switzerland, since 1946. The film festival is quite different from other high-profile film festivals in how accessible it has been designed. There is no hierarchy, instead talents, industry professionals, film students, local personalities, staff, and the audience are invited to mingle, and share in a collective experience. The red carpet at the Locarno Film Festival is barrier-free, there are no VIP-only zones; open access to all.
The films are screened at multiple venues, including the open-air Piazza Grande which has the capacity to house 8000 people at the screening, making it one of the most liberating experiences. The screenings are also quite diverse, with this year’s Locarno Film Festival screening both the 1982 Spielberg classic ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, as well as 2024’s apocalyptic Gianluca Jodice directorial Le Déluge.