Sho Miyake’s ‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’ Wins Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival

Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Tabi to Hibi) by Sho Miyake has won the top prize – the Pardo d’Oro Golden Leopard in the International Competition at the 78th Locarno Film Festival.

This is the fourth Japanese winner of the top prize in the Festival’s history after Masahiro Kobayashi’s The Rebirth (Ai no yokan) in 2007, Akio Jissoji’s This Transient Life (Mujō), which was one of four films to share the prize in 1970, and Teinosuke Kinugasa’s classic Gate of Hell (Jigokumon) in 1954.

White Snail by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter won the Special Jury Prize, and the Pardo for Best Direction went to Abbas Fahdel for Tales of the Wounded Land.

The two Best Performance Awards were given respectively to Manuela Martelli and Ana Marija Veselčić for Bog neće pomoći (God Will Not Help) by Hana Jušić and to Marya Imbro and Mikhail Senkov, stars of White Snail.

The Pardo d’Oro in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente was awarded to Tóc, giấy và nước… (Hair, Paper, Water…) by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý.

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival commented, “A successful edition beyond our wildest expectations that celebrates the enduring and gentle power of cinema and its manifolded ways of bringing communities together to share the wonderful gifts of peace. We are grateful to all the directors that trusted the festival with their works. It allowed us to create a forward-looking edition, with its gaze firmly set in the future. We are certain these works will stand the test of time and become beacons of hope for young talents that are just starting to dream the films they want to make tomorrow. A festival is like building a better tomorrow. One film at the time.”

The 79th Locarno Film Festival will take place from 5 to 15 August 2026.

The Festival in 2025

The Palmarès

Concorso Internazionale

Pardo d’Oro – Grand Prize of the Festival and City of Locarno
to TABI TO HIBI (TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS) by Sho Miyake, Japan

Special Jury Prize – Cities of Ascona and Losone
to WHITE SNAIL by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, Austria/Germany

Pardo for Best Direction – City and Region of Locarno
to Abbas Fahdel for TALES OF THE WOUNDED LAND, Lebanon

Pardo for Best Performance
to Manuela Martelli and Ana Marija Veselčić for BOG NEĆE POMOĆI (GOD WILL NOT HELP) by Hana Jušić, Croatia/Italy/Romania/Greece/France/Slovenia

Pardo for Best Performance
to Marya Imbro and Mikhail Senkov for WHITE SNAIL by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, Austria/Germany

Special Mention

DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze, Germany/Georgia

Concorso Cineasti del Presente

Pardo d’Oro – Concorso Cineasti del Presente
to TÓC, GIẤY VÀ NƯỚC… (HAIR, PAPER, WATER…) by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, Belgium/France/Vietnam

Best Emerging Director Award – City and Region of Locarno
to Cecilia Kang for HIJO MAYOR, Argentina/France

Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
to GIOIA MIA (SWEETHEART) by Margherita Spampinato, Italy

Pardo for Best Performance
to Aurora Quattrocchi for GIOIA MIA (SWEETHEART) by Margherita Spampinato, Italy

Pardo for Best Performance
to Levan Gelbakhiani for DON’T LET THE SUN by Jacqueline Zünd, Switzerland/Italy

Pardi di Domani

Concorso Corti d’Autore

Pardino d’Oro WePresent by WeTransfer for the Best Auteur Short Film
to A VERY STRAIGHT NECK by Neo Sora, Japan/China

Concorso Internazionale

Pardino d’Oro Arts3 Foundation for the Best International Short Film
to HYENA by Altay Ulan Yang, USA

Pardino d’Argento Arts3 Foundation for the International Competition
to STILL PLAYING by Mohamed Mesbah, France

Pardi di Domani Best Direction Award – BONALUMI Engineering
to PRIMERA ENSEÑANZA (PRIMARY EDUCATION) by Aria Sánchez and Marina Meira, Cuba/Spain/Brazil

Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
to FORCE TIMES DISPLACEMENT by Angel WU, Taiwan

Concorso Nazionale

Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR for the Best Swiss Short Film
to O RIO DE JANEIRO CONTINUA LINDO (RIO REMAINS BEAUTIFUL) by Felipe Casanova, Belgium/Brazil/Switzerland

Pardino d’Argento SRG SSR for the National Competition
to TUSEN TONER by Francesco Poloni, Switzerland

Best Swiss Newcomer Award
to L’AVANT-POSTE 21 by Camille Surdez, Switzerland

Locarno Film Festival Short Film Candidate – European Film Awards

O RIO DE JANEIRO CONTINUA LINDO (RIO REMAINS BEAUTIFUL) by Felipe Casanova, Belgium/Brazil/SwitzerlandFirst Feature

Swatch First Feature Award
to BLUE HERON by Sophy Romvari, Canada/Hungary

Pardo Verde

Pardo Verde
to MARE’S NEST by Ben Rivers, United Kingdom/France/Canada

Special Mentions

TÓC, GIẤY VÀ NƯỚC… (HAIR, PAPER, WATER…) by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, Belgium/France/Vietnam

UNE FENÊTRE PLEIN SUD (A SOUTH FACING WINDOW) by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, France/Mongolia