Locarno 79, Golden Leopard to Romanian «You Don't Belong Here»; awards for Hong Sangsoo and Kim Minhee

The Locarno Film Festival closed today its 79th edition, held from 5 to 15 August 2026, announcing the winners of the International Competition. The Golden Leopard went to «Nu E Locul Tău Aici» — «You Don’t Belong Here» — by Romanian director Florin Șerban, a prize worth 75,000 francs split between director and producer. The film tells the story of a widowed father and his teenage son in a small provincial town.

The reconstruction relies on the festival’s official list of winners, reported by The Hollywood Reporter and by the Finnish outlet Nettiruutu: two accounts of the same source, namely the official verdict. The news therefore currently comes from a single source (the Locarno Film Festival’s list of winners); no independent confirmation is available, which for a list of awards is the normal condition — the source is the only one that could exist.

The geography of the verdict. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to «A Margem do Rio» by Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho, a production between Brazil and Germany. The Leopard for Best Direction went to South Korean director Hong Sangsoo for «Nun Dul Dega Eomne». The Leopards for Best Performance were awarded to Kim Minhee, the lead of Hong Sangsoo’s film, and to Monica Bellucci for «Ketticè» by Giovanni Tortorici.

The list, read for what it states, distributes the main recognitions as follows: top prize to a Romanian production, jury prize to a Brazilian-German co-production, direction and best female performance to South Korean cinema, performance award to a film directed by an Italian director.

The lifetime achievement award. The Leopard of Honour was presented to American director Darren Aronofsky on the evening of Friday 14 August in Piazza Grande. During the festival Aronofsky presented two of his films, «The Fountain» (2006) and «Mother!» (2017). The award has been supported since 2017 by partner Manor, and previous winners include Manoel de Oliveira, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard and Agnès Varda: the list indicates the tradition in which the festival places the award.

“Darren Aronofsky embodies the pleasure of cinema as risk and challenge” — Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival

The announcement of the Leopard of Honour, too, reported by Sky TG24 and by Cinecittà News, traces back to a single source: the festival’s press release.

The detail of the prize. On the monetary value of the Golden Leopard the list of winners states one thing, and it is verifiable: the prize is worth 75,000 francs and does not go entirely to the director, as it is split between director and producer of the winning film. No other information on the effects of the award appears in the festival’s records. The 79th edition opened on 5 August and closed on the 15th with the announcement of the winners.