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Locarno: Romania's 'You Don't Belong Here' wins Golden Leopard; Hong Sang-soo, Kim Min-hee win

Romanian director Florin Serban won the Golden Leopard at the 79th Locarno Film Festival on Saturday, August 15, for You Don't Belong Here, AFP reported in a story carried by the Oman Observer. The jury praised the film's writing, its unique vision and its command of film language.

“above all, a portrait of a way of seeing the world that may be disappearing” — Florin Serban, via AFP

AFP described Serban as a leading figure of the Romanian New Wave. It led with the stars among the other winners: Monica Bellucci for her role in Giovanni Tortorici's Ketticè, about teenagers seeking freedom, and South Korean actor Kim Min-hee for Hong Sang-soo's Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, about a brother and sister visiting their mother on Jeju Island.

Swiss broadcaster SRF said the prize carries CHF 75,000 and is Serban's second major Locarno award and his first feature in eight years. It described a widowed father fighting for a teenage son who vandalises property at night. SRF said Hong won best director, nine years after his 2015 Golden Leopard, and that Swiss films won little in the main sections; Petra Volpe's Frank & Louis took the audience award.

How each outlet framed it

• AFP — an international roundup led by Bellucci and the Korean winners.
• SRF — prize money, the plot and a scorecard for Swiss cinema.

What we don't know yet: neither report named the jury members or the film's release plans.