Romanian film 'You Don't Belong Here' wins Golden Leopard at 79th Locarno Film Festival

Top honor for Romanian drama

The 79th Locarno Film Festival concluded on Saturday, 15 August, after eleven days of screenings on the shores of Lake Maggiore, awarding its Golden Leopard to "You Don't Belong Here" ("Nu e locul tau aici") by Romanian director Florin Șerban. The prize carries 75,000 Swiss francs, shared between director and producer. Șerban, 51, marks his return to feature filmmaking after eight years, during which he founded a school of dramatic arts. His first feature, "If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle" (2010), won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale.

The film runs over two and a half hours and follows Marius, a chief doctor in his small hometown's hospital, who raises his teenage son Ioan alone after his wife's death. Unaware that Ioan rides through the city at night vandalizing cars with a group of masked youths, Marius sees his world upended when police begin to suspect his son of murder. The international competition jury praised the film for "the strength of its writing, the singularity of its vision and its exceptional mastery of cinematic language." Seventeen films competed for the Golden Leopard.

Florin Șerban described the film's deeper intent on the festival website.

My film is above all a portrait of a way of seeing the world that may perhaps disappear. Or perhaps should disappear.

Acting awards and directing prize

Since 2023, Locarno has presented two non-gendered performance awards. This year's went to Monica Bellucci for "Ketticè" by Giovanni Tortorici and to Kim Minhee for "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes" by Hong Sangsoo. Bellucci plays the mother of the protagonist in a coming-of-age film about teenagers in Palermo seeking escape from boredom through parties and Facebook chats. Kim Minhee portrays a woman who, after ten years, visits her mother on the South Korean island of Jeju with her brother.

Hong Sangsoo received the Best Director Leopard for the same film. It is not his first Locarno recognition: he won the Golden Leopard in 2015 with "Right Now, Wrong Then." The Special Jury Prize, worth 30,000 Swiss francs, went to "The Riverbank" ("A Margem do Rio") by Brazilian directors Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho.

Double win for long-term documentary

In the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section, the Golden Leopard, worth 35,000 Swiss francs, went to "The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer" ("La ilusión de un verano sin fin") by Alessandra Sanguinetti. The documentary follows two Argentine cousins from childhood into adulthood over more than 25 years. Sanguinetti, a US-born photographer raised in Buenos Aires, also received the Swatch First Feature Award for a debut work, making her the only filmmaker to win two prizes this year.

Additional honors

Șerban's film collected further distinctions beyond the Golden Leopard. Actor Teodor Butănescu received a special mention for his performance, and the film earned the Europa Cinemas Label and the Youth Jury's first prize, worth 6,000 Swiss francs. Swiss director Petra Volpe won the audience award with "Frank & Louis." The festival closed with "Ni vue, ni connue" by Marc Fitoussi, starring Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain and Diane Kruger.

Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro described the lineup as a vital and contemporary selection in close dialogue with the transformations of the industry and the world today, citing the Romania of "You Don't Belong Here," the Brazil of "The Riverbank," and South Korea of "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes."

The jury never renounced the primacy of form and language, while choosing films capable of reaching a wide audience, as shown by the full and engaged theaters across all competitions throughout the festival.