Florin Şerban’s anti-Roma drama wins Locarno’s Golden Leopard

Romanian director Florin Şerban's "You Don't Belong Here", a sombre drama about anti-Roma racism, won the Golden Leopard for best film in the International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival. The win marks a return to major festival recognition for Şerban, whose 2010 debut "If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle" won the Berlinale Grand Prix, though his subsequent work had drawn less attention; his latest film also picked up the festival's Junior Jury and Europa Cinemas Label prizes, despite a largely negative review from Variety's critic.

The film, about a doctor who discovers his son has committed a racially motivated murder, beat 17 features including new works from Hong Sangsoo, Denis Côté, Ann Oren and Nelson Yeo, with a jury led by Fabrice Du Welz. Hong Sangsoo won Best Director for "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes", while Kim Minhee and Monica Bellucci shared the Best Performance award, for "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes" and "Kettică" respectively; Brazilian directors Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho took the Special Jury Prize for "The Riverbank". Outside the main competition, the Argentine debut "The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer" was also a big winner.