Locarno: Șerban's 'You Don't Belong Here' Wins Pardo d'Oro
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- Florin Șerban won the Pardo d'Oro at the 79th Locarno Film Festival for 'You Don't Belong Here' (Nu E Locul Tau Aici), marking his return to feature filmmaking after eight years; the jury cited 'the singularity of its vision and exceptional command of cinematic language.'
- Hong Sangsoo took the Pardo for Best Direction for 'Nowhere to Lay My Eyes' (Nun Dul Dega Eomne), a South Korean entry that also earned Kim Minhee the Best Performance prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize — a triple win for the same film.
- Monica Bellucci received a Best Performance Award for 'Ketticè' by Giovanni Tortorici (Italy), while the Special Jury Prize went to Brazilian film 'The Riverbank' (A Margem do Rio) by Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho.
- Alessandra Sanguinetti swept two prizes for 'The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer' (La Ilusión de un Verano Sin Fin), winning both the Concorso Cineasti del Presente Pardo d'Oro and the Swatch First Feature Award.
- Giona A. Nazzaro, the festival's Artistic Director, framed the slate as 'vital and contemporary,' highlighting winners from Romania, Brazil, and South Korea as evidence of the jury's commitment to 'the primacy of form and of language.'
- The Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz presided over the international competition jury, whose members included Italy's Marco Alessi, Chile's Paulina García, and ARTE France Cinéma's Olivier Père.
- The festival closes Saturday August 15 in Piazza Grande with the Prix du Public UBS ceremony and a screening of Marc Fitoussi's 'Ni Vue, Ni Connue' starring Isabelle Huppert, with the 80th edition set for August 4–14, 2027.
Why it matters: The 79th Locarno jury distributed its top prizes across four continents — Romania, Brazil, South Korea, Italy — underscoring the festival's role as a launchpad for auteur cinema outside the Anglo-American mainstream, while Hong Sangsoo's triple win for 'Nowhere to Lay My Eyes' cements his late-career run at international festivals. Florin Șerban's first feature in eight years signals a comeback for one of Romania's most distinctive directors.
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