The top prize at this year’s Locarno Film Festival has gone to You Don’t Belong Here, a Romanian drama from director Florin Şerban that premiered just days before the awards ceremony on August 9. The film, which runs 154 minutes, centers on Marius Călimanescu, a hospital chief medical officer in a small town who is raising his teenage son alone after the death of his wife. Marius’s orderly life fractures when police begin investigating his son, Ioan, as a suspect in a murder - unaware that the boy has been spending his nights on a bicycle with a masked gang of vigilantes responsible for vandalizing cars across town.
A return to form for Şerban
Şerban, best known internationally for his 2010 debut If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, which won the Silver Bear at Berlin, has been relatively quiet on the feature front since then. You Don’t Belong Here marks a significant comeback, and the Locarno jury clearly took notice. The film stars Adrian Văncică as Marius, with Teodor Butănescu as his son Ioan, and features a supporting cast that includes Christina Richter as Dana, Alex Conovaru as Silviu Obădău, Claudiu Maier as Inspector Baciu, and Alina Tutunaru as Alina Obădău. The drama builds its tension from the contrast between Marius’s professional confidence and his total blindness to his son’s double life - a gap that widens into a chasm once the murder investigation begins.
The win at Locarno is a significant validation for the project, which premiered during the festival’s main competition. The festival, held annually in the Swiss town on Lake Maggiore, is one of Europe’s most prestigious showcases for auteur cinema, and its Golden Leopard has historically launched films into the international awards conversation. With a TMDb rating of zero - as it starts to accumulate viewer votes post-festival - the jury’s decision will now carry weight in shaping early critical reception.
Hong Sangsoo gets a directing nod
The festival also handed its Best Director award to Hong Sangsoo, the prolific South Korean filmmaker whose work consistently explores the quiet complexities of human relationships with a signature minimalism. The specific film being honored was not detailed in the initial announcement, but Hong’s presence at Locarno has been a recurring highlight over the past several years. His directing prize adds to an already crowded shelf of international accolades, and it reinforces Locarno’s reputation as a destination for filmmakers who prize formal restraint and emotional nuance over spectacle.
Hong’s recognition alongside Şerban’s top win suggests a jury that favored intimate, character-driven storytelling over larger-scale productions. Both filmmakers are known for working with small crews and extended takes, and both have built careers on exploring the moral ambiguities of ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. For Şerban, the comparison is particularly apt: You Don’t Belong Here is less a crime thriller than a study of parental failure and the quiet, unexamined spaces that can grow between a parent and child.
Bellucci honored with career award
Monica Bellucci, the Italian actress who has moved fluidly between European art cinema and Hollywood blockbusters for three decades, received a career achievement award at this year’s Locarno. Bellucci’s filmography ranges from Malèna and Irreversible to the James Bond installment Spectre, and her presence at the festival drew considerable press attention. The career nod from Locarno adds to a lengthy list of honors, and it positions her alongside a roster of past recipients that includes some of the most significant figures in contemporary cinema. Her recognition was a notable counterpoint to the younger, emerging talents being celebrated in the competition categories.
A festival defined by contrasts
This year’s Locarno edition, which wrapped under warm Swiss summer skies, balanced its usual dedication to experimental and emerging cinema with a clear affection for established names. The dual honors for Şerban and Hong, both now in the middle phases of their careers, signal that the festival’s jury was less interested in identifying bold newcomers than in rewarding mature filmmakers who continue to refine their craft. Meanwhile, the Bellucci tribute kept a spotlight on star power without overshadowing the competition results.
For You Don’t Belong Here, the Golden Leopard win will almost certainly accelerate its festival circuit journey. Romanian cinema has enjoyed a strong international profile since the mid-2000s, with directors like Cristian Mungiu and Corneliu Porumboiu earning major prizes at Cannes and Berlin, and Şerban’s victory at Locarno places him firmly in that lineage. Whether the film will find a U.S. distributor quickly remains an open question, but the buzz from Switzerland - amplified by strong word-of-mouth from the premiere - should help secure regional deals in the coming months.
The film’s 154-minute runtime may prove a talking point for audiences, but for festival-goers in Locarno, the length was evidently not a deterrent. The jury’s choice signals a preference for patient storytelling that trusts its viewers to sit with discomfort and ambiguity. With the award now in hand, Şerban and his cast will likely ride this momentum into the fall festival season, where further honors could follow. For now, the conversation begins with a simple, unsettling premise: a father who believes he knows his son, and a town that believes it knows its own secrets. Neither turns out to be right.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
