The Festival del film Locarno kicked off on 23 August 1946, at the Grand Hotel of Locarno with the screening of the movie "O sole mio" by Giacomo Gentilomo. The first edition was organized in less than three months with a line-up of fifteen movies, mainly American and Italian, among which was "Rome, Open City" directed by Roberto Rossellini, "And Then There Were None" directed by René Clair (1945), "Double Indemnity" by Billy Wilder (1944) and "The Song of Bernadette" by Henry King (1943).