Romanian film "Nu e locul tău aici" wins Golden Leopard at 79th Locarno Film Festival, taking four prizes

Four prizes for a first-time Romanian winner

Florin Șerban's "Nu e locul tău aici" ("You Don't Belong Here") was named the big winner of the 79th Locarno International Film Festival on 15 August 2026, taking the Golden Leopard (Pardo d'Oro) for best film in the international competition. It is the first Romanian film to win the festival's top prize. The production collected four distinctions in total: the Golden Leopard, the Europa Cinemas Label, the Junior Jury prize, and a special mention for debutant actor Teodor Butănescu. The awards ceremony began at 14:30 local time and was streamed live online. The Golden Leopard carries a cash prize of 75,000 Swiss francs (79,700 euros), shared between director and producer.

The film was chosen from 17 titles in the official competition, a lineup that included works by directors such as Hong Sangsoo, Denis Côté, and Ann Oren. The international jury was presided over by Belgian filmmaker Fabrice du Welz, who praised the film's construction and its active engagement of the spectator. Du Welz compared the film's thematic universe to the novels of Georges Simenon and described it as a story about the collapse of morality.

A father confronts his son's hidden life

The film, running over two and a half hours, follows Marius (Adrian Văncică), a respected chief surgeon in a small provincial town and a single parent raising his teenage son Ioan (Teodor Butănescu) after his wife's death. Marius's world collapses when police inform him that his son is suspected of murder. The father gradually discovers that Ioan belongs to a group of young racists who roam the city by bicycle at night, vandalizing illegally parked cars. The story moves beyond a generational conflict to examine a particular kind of fatherhood, asking how someone who once wanted to change the world can be a parent.

Șerban described the film as "above all a portrait of a way of seeing the world that could disappear. Or, perhaps, that should disappear." Văncică, widely known in Romania for the comedy character Celentano in the TV series "Las Fierbinți", takes on a dramatic role. The cast also includes 19 young debutant actors trained at the film school founded by Șerban, alongside Alex Conovaru, Cristina Richter, Janir Izdrăilă, and Cosmin Dominte. The film was produced by Fantascope with executive producer Minodora Șerban and financed with support from the CNC.

A return after eight years

For the 51-year-old Șerban, the Golden Leopard marks a return to feature filmmaking after an eight-year pause during which he founded a theater school. His debut feature, "Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier" (2010), won the Silver Bear (Grand Jury Prize) and the Alfred Bauer Prize for innovation at the Berlinale. "Nu e locul tău aici" is his fifth film.

It is wonderful what is happening with this film, ever since the beginning of the project, eight years ago. The Golden Leopard is a very important prize for me personally, it is the prize for pure cinema. And for the film... alongside the other prizes from here, I am sure it will ensure the exposure it deserves.

For the screenplay and the uniqueness of the vision, the construction of all the characters and the cinematic language, we are proud to award the film "Nu e locul tău aici", directed by Florin Șerban, the Golden Leopard for best film.

Other Locarno winners and reactions

South Korean director Hong Sangsoo won Best Director for his 35th feature, "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes". Kim Minhee shared the Best Performance prize with Monica Bellucci, recognised for her supporting role in "Ketticè" directed by Giovanni Tortorici. The Special Jury Prize went to Brazilian directors Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho for "The Riverbank". Canadian actor Xavier Bergeron received a special mention for "Nobody's Violence" by Denis Côté. Not all reception was positive: Variety critic Jay Weissberg wrote that the Romanian film "starts promisingly but ends with an astonishingly uninspired epilogue."

The film has also been selected for the Sarajevo Film Festival 2026 competition, with screenings scheduled for 20 August at 12:30 and 21:30 at the National Theatre, and 21 August at 18:00 at Cineplexx Sarajevo 8. Previous Romanian success at Locarno includes Călin Peter Netzer's "Maria", which received the Special Jury Prize in 2003.