LOCARNO, Switzerland — Amidst the idyllic Alpine backdrop of the 79th Locarno Film Festival, American auteur James Gray accepted the prestigious Career Leopard honor on Sunday, using his press conference not for self-aggrandizement, but to deconstruct the very mechanics of cinematic creation. In a display of characteristic humility, the filmmaker confessed to a room of international press that he is continually shocked when actors express a desire to collaborate with him.

For Gray, whose filmography includes modern elegies like Ad Astra and Armageddon Time, the director is less a dictatorial visionary and more a custodian of his cast's inherent brilliance. "Actors dictate the style of the film much more than I think is talked about," he explained, challenging the prevailing orthodoxy of the auteur theory. "I just try to make sure that they are totally comfortable to be excellent. I have no acting talent. I’m not a good director of actors."

"To me, movies are the most beautiful art form because it’s the closest thing we have to a dream. I try to show you a version of my own dream, my intimacy." — James Gray

The Perils of Pre-Visualization

When queried about his writing process—specifically whether he constructs scripts with specific performers in mind—Gray offered a pragmatic rebuttal to the romanticized notion of the bespoke muse. "I try to write the movie not with actors in mind because you’re always going to be disappointed," he noted. The reality of the industry's ecosystem dictates that scheduling conflicts often force a recasting that shatters the director's initial mental architecture. "You write it for some actor, and then you find out that guy is not available for two years... And then, instead of the 6’2″ guy, you have to cast the 5’1″ guy and rethink it. So I’ve learned never to do that."

An Homage to the Italian Golden Age

It was perhaps fitting that in the heart of Italian-speaking Switzerland, Gray dedicated a portion of his address to the titans of European cinema. He described the period between 1945 and 1980 as an "ocean of brilliance" that remains unparalleled in the history of the medium. "If I had to pick cinema 1945 to 1980, I would say Italian cinema is everything to me," Gray declared, praising the era's ability to marry verisimilitude with profound artistic ambition.

For Gray, the cinema remains an ephemeral yet potent escape from the waking world. "It’s why people say, ‘I hate that movie’ or ‘I love that movie,’" he mused. "That’s why when somebody talks behind you in the movie theater, you want to kill them. It’s something interrupting your dream."

The Locarno Career Leopard

  • Recipient: James Gray (US Director)
  • Award: Pardo alla Carriera (Career Leopard)
  • Festival Edition: 79th Locarno Film Festival (2026)
  • Key Themes: Actor autonomy, Italian neorealism, cinema as a dream state.

Official Announcements from the Festival

Further Reading:The Hollywood Reporter on X: Locarno to Honor James Gray · Full Interview at The Hollywood Reporter

Related Topics:

#Entertainment#Cinema#Directing#James Gray#Locarno Film Festival#Auteur#Film History
emma
emmaStaff Writer

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