The Romanian film “Nu e locul tău aici”, written and directed by Florin Șerban, won the Main Prize for best film at the 36th FilmFestival Cottbus, held from 3 to 8 November. Adrian Văncică plays the lead. The prize is worth €15,000 and is sponsored by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Cineuropa reported. The international title is “You Don’t Belong Here”.

The jury — Maciej Sobieszczański, Claudia Geisler-Bading, Igor Šeregi, Urte Fink and Yaron Shamir — spoke of the inner conflict of a surgeon trying to understand what his role as a father demands of him. It praised the script and the pacing, which keep the tension of a thriller while the character questions himself and repeatedly fails to live up to his own convictions. Racism and poverty stay present, the jury said, without covering the central question: how to take responsibility for others when you cannot always stay true to your own values. Set against a criminal investigation, the story follows the changing relationship between a respected surgeon, the head of a provincial hospital, and his teenage son, whom he discovers has joined an extremist group and taken part in a killing.

The Cottbus trophy adds to the film’s summer record. At Locarno it won the Golden Leopard, the Europa Cinemas Label and the youth jury prize, and first-time actor Teodor Butănescu received a special mention for his performance. At Sarajevo, Adrian Văncică was named best actor. The film was also on the European Film Awards shortlist, with the nominations due to be announced on 14 November.

“I’m very glad that You Don’t Belong Here convinced the Cottbus jury as well, after a summer of a great deal of international recognition. We’re preparing the Romanian release, and another success like this makes me even more confident that the film will find its own audience among viewers at home,” Florin Șerban said.

At the same ceremony, the directing prize went to Vladlena Sandu for “Memory”, an autobiographical debut about her childhood and adolescence in Grozny. That award, worth €7,500, is sponsored by the broadcaster rbb, again according to Cineuropa.

“Nu e locul tău aici” opens in Romanian cinemas on 27 November, distributed by Bad Unicorn. Văncică, Butănescu and Șerban will attend screenings and audience meetings in Reșița (20 November), Timișoara (21 November), Cluj-Napoca (26 November), Bucharest (27 November and 5 December), Craiova (28 November) and Iași (29 November). Liviu Mărghidan shot the film, and Marius Leftărache and Nikita Dembinski wrote the score. Șerban is also the producer and the editor, and Minodora Șerban is executive producer. It was produced by Fantascope Films, with Scharf Film Production, Avanpost, Earlybird and Școala de Film, with support from the Romanian Film Centre, and Reason8 Films handles international sales.

The photograph shows the Staatstheater in Cottbus in 2020. It is not the 2026 ceremony and it is not a frame from the film. Credit: QCA7, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Source: Filmul românesc „Nu e locul tău aici”, cu Adrian Văncică în rolul principal, a câștigat Marele Premiu la Festivalul Internațional de Film de la Cottbus, News.ro.