‘You Don’t Belong Here’ Director Florin Şerban Announces Next Feature After Locarno Golden Leopard Victory (EXCLUSIVE)

Florin Şerban, the Romanian auteur behind the stark drama You Don’t Belong Here, lifted the Golden Leopard at Locarno last week. The win, confirmed by Reuters, has propelled the filmmaker into the spotlight as he unveils plans for his next feature while his current work battles for the top prize in Sarajevo’s main competition.

You Don’t Belong Here Wins Golden Leopard at Locarno

The festival jury praised the film’s unflinching look at systemic racism and toxic masculinity, calling it a “necessary confrontation with uncomfortable truths.”

“I wanted to expose the mechanisms that keep people marginalized,” Şerban told Variety, speaking from the Sarajevo Film Festival press room.

He added that the momentum from the award will shape his upcoming project, which he describes as “a transnational story about identity and belonging” in a climate of rising nationalism. The director hinted that production will commence in early ↑ 2025, with co‑production partners from France and Germany already showing interest. Financing discussions are reportedly underway, and a tentative budget of €↑ 3.5 million has been floated, according to industry sources. Şerban stressed that the new film will retain his signature visual austerity while expanding the narrative scope beyond Romania’s borders. While You Don’t Belong Here continues its run in Sarajevo, critics from Bloomberg note that the film’s reception could influence European funding bodies to back more socially charged cinema. Şerban remains cautious, however, warning that “the market for hard‑edged social critique is still fragile.”

Intel provided by: Donovan Trent

Global Sports Analytics Director