Locarno Film Festival 2026 awards: You Don’t Belong Here wins the Pardo d’Oro

The Locarno Film Festival awards for 2026 have given the Pardo d’Oro to You Don’t Belong Here (Nu e locul tau aici) by Romanian filmmaker Florin Șerban, marking his return to feature filmmaking. Centered on the relationship between a father and son, the drama was recognized by the Concorso Internazionale jury for the strength of its screenplay, the singularity of its vision, and its command of cinematic language.

Locarno Film Festival awards: Șerban, Hong and Bellucci among the winners

The Special Jury Prize went to The Riverbank (A Margem do Rio) by Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho, while Hong Sang-soo received the Pardo for Best Direction for Nowhere to Lay My Eyes (Nun Dul Dega Eomne).

The two awards for Best Performance were presented to Kim Minhee for Nowhere to Lay My Eyes and Monica Bellucci for Giovanni Tortorici’s Ketticè. The International Competition jury also awarded Special Mentions to Xavier Bergeron for Denis Côté’s Violence du corps de l’autre and Teodor Butănescu for You Don’t Belong Here.

Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro described the final selection as a contemporary palmarès closely connected with changes affecting the film industry and society, while emphasizing the juries’ attention to cinematic form and language.

The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer takes two Locarno Film Festival prizes

One of the other major winners of the 2026 edition was The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer (La ilusión de un verano sin fin) by Alessandra Sanguinetti, which received both the Pardo d’Oro in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente and the Swatch First Feature Award.

Beatrice Gibson won Best Emerging Director for At Night, while the CINÉ+OCS Special Jury Prize went to Mohanad Yaqubi’s Revolutionaries Never Die. The performance awards in the section were given to Idrissu Tontie Jr. for Ego Reach We All and Manal Issa for L’Estive. Special Mentions went to Lucila Mariani’s Los días libres and Ana Vaz’s Hanabi.

Shorts, Swiss cinema and other Locarno Film Festival awards

In the Pardi di Domani competitions, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s The Bovine Comedy won the Pardino d’Oro in the Corti d’Autore competition. Filip Anthonissen’s Melk received the Pardino d’Oro for Best International Short Film and was selected as the Locarno Film Festival’s short-film candidate for the European Film Awards.

In the National Competition, Typhoon Mambo by Domenico Singha Pedroli received the Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR, Alles Gute by Patricia Strübin won the Pardino d’Argento, and Charlyne Genoud’s Respirer une fois sur trois received the award for Best Swiss Newcomer.

The Locarno Kids Award la Mobiliare went to Marleen Valien’s Paradeisa.

The Pardo for Change was awarded to Ego Reach We All (Our Time Will Come) by Amartei Armar, with Special Mentions for Rodrigo Plá’s Los Nuevos and Deepak Rauniyar’s Private Property.

Frank & Louis win the Locarno Film Festival audience award

The final award of the edition was decided by the Piazza Grande audience. Frank & Louis, directed by Swiss filmmaker Petra Volpe and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan, won the Prix du Public UBS 2026.

The prison drama follows Frank, who has spent 20 years behind bars and agrees to care for Louis, an older inmate affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The film was inspired by the Gold Coats caregiving programme at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and was developed by Volpe over ten years.

Frank & Louis is Volpe’s first English-language feature and follows Heldin (Late Shift), Switzerland’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Locarno Film Festival 2026 closes with more than 150,000 admissions

The Locarno Film Festival reported more than 150,000 admissions to screenings and public events, based on figures updated through August 15. Cinema attendance reached 91,405, up 4% compared with the previous edition, while Piazza Grande recorded 50,520 admissions.

Locarno Pro also passed the threshold of 2,000 accredited professionals for the first time, reaching 2,140 participants, a 10% increase compared with 2025.

The final evening in Piazza Grande included the closing film Ni vue, ni connue (All About Corinne) by Marc Fitoussi, starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain.

The 80th Locarno Film Festival will take place August 4-14, 2027.