Pardo d'Oro for Romanian Father-and-Son Drama
The 79th Locarno Film Festival awarded its top prize, the Pardo d'Oro (Golden Leopard), to Florin Șerban's Nu E Locul Tau Aici ("You Don't Belong Here"), a Romanian father-and-son drama marking the director's return to feature filmmaking after eight years. The Official Concorso Internazionale Jury, presided over by Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz, cited the film "for the strength of its writing, the singularity of its vision, and its exceptional command of cinematic language." The film follows a physician whose world collapses after police suspect his teenage son, Ioan, of murdering an old Romani man; he then discovers his son leads a secret life cycling through a small town to vandalize cars with masked vigilantes.
Direction and Performance Honors
Hong Sangsoo received the Pardo for Best Direction for Nun Dul Dega Eomne ("Nowhere to Lay My Eyes"), a South Korean entry. The two Best Performance Awards went to Kim Minhee for "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes" and Monica Bellucci for Giovanni Tortorici's Ketticè. A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho's The Riverbank (A Margem do Rio) from Brazil. Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro described the awards as "a vital and contemporary slate of awards, in close dialogue with the transformations in the industry and in our world today," noting that the jury "upheld the primacy of form and of language."
Filmmakers of the Present and Industry Records
In the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition, the Golden Leopard went to Alessandra Sanguinetti's La Ilusión De Un Verano Sin Fin ("The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer"), which also took the Swatch First Feature Award. Other Locarno 2026 honors went to Beatrice Gibson for "At Night" and to Mohanad Yaqubi for "Revolutionaries Never Die," among others. The festival's industry strand, Locarno Pro, recorded its largest edition to date with 2,140 industry accreditations, up roughly 10 percent from 1,940 the prior year, drawing professionals from nearly 100 countries.
Closing Night and Next Edition
The festival's closing night took place Saturday in Piazza Grande with the Prix du Public UBS ceremony preceding the screening of the closing film Ni Vue, Ni Connue ("All About Corinne") by Marc Fitoussi, starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain. The 80th Locarno Film Festival is scheduled for 4–14 August 2027.
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