Florin Serban’s ‘You Don’t Belong Here’ wins Golden Leopard at Locarno

Locarno's Golden Leopard was awarded to Romanian director Florin Serban for his film 'Nu e locul tau aici' [You Don’t Belong Here]. Keystone-SDA

The film Nu e locul tau aici [You Don’t Belong Here], by Romanian director Florin Serban, won the Golden Leopard, the top prize in the international competition, on Saturday at the 79th Locarno Film Festival.

The film tells the story of the relationship between a widowed father and his teenage son who, at night and without his father’s knowledge, commits acts of vandalism.

The Romanian film, which has been awarded CHF75,000 ($92,000), beat 16 other films in the running for the Pardo d’oro [Golden Leopard] top prize. This marks a return to feature-length filmmaking for Florin Serban, the organisers said on Saturday.

The jury for the international competition, chaired by Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz, awarded the prize “for the strength of its screenplay, the uniqueness of its vision and its exceptional mastery of cinematic language”.

Teodor Butanescu, who plays the son Ioan in the film, received a special mention. You Don’t Belong Here also won the Youth Jury’s First Prize, worth CHF6,000, as well as the Europa Cinemas Label Award, designed to promote the film’s distribution in cinemas within the Europa Cinemas network.

Also in the main competition, the special jury prize, worth CHF30,000, went to A Margem do Rio, by Brazilian directors Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho. The film tells the story of two men who find themselves in a mangrove forest.

‘Nun Dul Dega Eomne’: double honour

In the international competition, the award for best director went to South Korean director Hong Sangsoo for Nun Dul Dega Eomne [Nowhere to Rest My Eyes]. The film is set on Jeju Island, South Korea, where the protagonists, a brother and sister, return after ten years to visit their mother.

Hong Sangsoo had previously won the Golden Leopard at Locarno in 2015 for Right Now, Wrong Then. South Korean actress Kim Min-hee, who plays the lead role in Nun Dul Dega Eomne, receives one of the two best performance awards.

The other award for best performance went to the Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who plays the protagonist’s mother in Giovanni Tortorici’s film Ketticè.

Monica Bellucci plays a mother who did not want to have a child, is clearly psychologically unstable, and takes out her frustration on her teenage son. The film is produced by Luca Guadagnino, another big name in cinema, though this was not enough to spare it several negative reviews from festival-goers.

A documentary filmed over 25 years

In the “Cinéastes du présent” section, the Pardo d’Oro went to La ilusión de un verano sin fin [The Illusion of an Endless Summer] by Alessandra Sanguinetti, an Argentine-American co-production. Filmed over more than 25 years, the documentary follows the lives of two Argentine cousins, from childhood through to adulthood.

Alessandra Sanguinetti, 58, an American photographer who grew up in Buenos Aires, has published numerous images for the Magnum Photos agency. The film also won the prize for best debut film, worth CHF15,000.

The festival’s artistic director, Giona A. Nazzaro, said in a press release published on Saturday that this was “a vibrant and contemporary list of winners, closely reflecting the changes in the film industry and our world today”.

Swiss films leave empty-handed

Swiss films left empty-handed, however. There was no prize for O Jacaré, by the Swiss-Portuguese director Basil Da Cunha, which was in the running for the Golden Leopard in the international competition.

Nor was there any recognition for Small Talk, by Mateo Ybarra, which featured a fine performance by the French actress Hélène Bares. The director visited the last etiquette school still operating in Switzerland, where he filmed real students.

The only consolation: the youth jury prize went to the arthouse short film Asheghetam by Filmsaazs, a Swiss minority co-production with France and Iran.

The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, which will also be remembered for its hot weather, closed on Saturday evening in the Piazza Grande with the presentation of the Audience Award. The French film Ni vue, ni connue, directed by Marc Fitoussi and starring Isabelle Huppert, who was in attendance, was screened.

The 80th edition of the festival will take place from August 4 to 14, 2027.

How we produce English news
Translated from French, reviewed by an English Department journalist.