{"id":181986,"date":"2026-11-15T13:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T13:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/181986\/"},"modified":"2026-11-15T13:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T13:09:12","slug":"seville-european-film-festival-prizes-you-dont-belong-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/181986\/","title":{"rendered":"Seville European Film Festival Prizes ‘You Don’t Belong Here’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRomania\u2019s Florin \u015eerban<\/a> added a Seville Golden Giraldillo to a Golden Leopard at Locarno on Saturday, winning Best Film in main competition at the 2026 Seville European Film Festival<\/a> which also prized Venice New Horizons buzz title \u201cFalling House\u201d and Sweden\u2019s Oscar entry \u201cAdult Supervision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSeville\u2019s biggest world premiere, Spain\u2019s \u201cThe Director,\u201d also scored a high profile award at a festival which works at multiple levels: a new talent springboard, an industry hub, further recognition for the large number ofEuropean films which partly fly under the radar, and a springboard for European productions breaking out to international sales or consolidating their contention for Oscar International Feature Film shortlist recognition.<\/p>\n

\n\tNotably, victors at Seville\u2019s Saturday\u2019s prize announcement also took in Marcus Schleinzer<\/a>\u2019s Austrian Oscar entry \u201cRose\u201d and Abinash Bikram Shah<\/a>\u2019s \u201cElephants in the Fog,\u201d a submission from Nepal.<\/p>\n

\n\tA closer look at Seville main competition winners:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou Don\u2019t Belong Here,\u201d (Florin \u015eerban)<\/p>\n

\n\tDescribed by Variety as \u201ca somber study of anti-Roma racism in the country, \u201cYou Don\u2019t Belong Here\u201d marks the fourth feature from \u015eerban whose 2010 debut, \u201cIf I Want to Whistle, I Whistle,\u201d took a Berlinale Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

\n\tShot in hallmark drab Romanian cinema tones, which won Bogdan Ionescu Best Artistic Direction, \u201cYou Don\u2019t Belong Here\u201d turns on a respected, upright surgeon who discovers his son has helped beat to death a Roma man. Filmed in static shoots with pauses between dialog, the film won four awards at Locarno, including but, as Variety noted at Locarno, failed to impress Variety critic Jay Weissberg who lamented that the film \u201copens with great promise and finishes with a stupefyingly misguided coda.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFalling House,\u201d (Mohsen Gharaei<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother tale of threatened patriarchy, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Gharaei\u2019s \u201cFalling House\u201d scored Seville\u2019s Grand Jury Prize, plus a nod for Best Editing for Evelyn Rack and Emad Khodabakhsh. Bowing in Venice Horizons, and described by the director as a story about \u201clost freedom,\u201d it turns on a prison guard who, learning his eldest daughter plans to escape to Turkey for a career in modelling, incarcerates his own family in a house facing demolition.<\/p>\n

\n\tSold by Paradise City Sales. \u201cFalling House\u201d has closed a first batch of deals with France\u2019s Jokers Films for France, Italy\u2019s Wanted Cinema and Karma Films for Spain.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAdult Supervision,\u201d (Alex Schulman<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n\tMuch of Seville\u2019s focus is on new or emerging talent. Of all its feature debuts, the biggest winner was \u201cAdult Supervision,\u201d from well-known Swedish author and podcast host Alex Schulman which has has sold widely by Heretic, including to WBD, Place and Vertigo. The film\u2019s double wins \u2013 a Puerta Am\u00e9rica Award and Best Actor prize \u2013 will stoke more word around Sweden\u2019s International Feature Oscar entry, which was another buzz title which has struck promising first sales, selling widely for Heretic, including to WBD, Place and Vertigo.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEl Director,\u201d (Dani de la Orden<\/a>, Spain)<\/p>\n

\n\tSeville\u2019s biggest new push at Frame, its industry umbrella, saw it partner with Spain\u2019s ICAA film agency to launch Insula, a screenplay market featuring 58 titles. Its jury president this year was AMPAS VP Howard A. Rodman, a screenwriter best known for \u201cSavage Grace\u201d and \u201cAugust,\u201d So Best Screenplay was a key plaudit, which went to a film where words are crucial: Dani de la Orden\u2019s \u201cEl Director,\u201d based on David Jim\u00e9nez\u2019s lid-lifting autobiographical non-fiction book about his time as editor-in-chief at newspaper El Mundo, and his battle to protect riotous journalism against the vested economic and political interests to often served. The prize went more specifically to two institutions on Spain\u2019s film-TV scene: Alejandro Hern\u00e1ndez, a co-writer on films and series by Alejandro Amen\u00e1bar (\u201cThe Captive\u201d) and Mariano Barroso (\u201cThe Farad\u201d) and Michel Gaztambide, who broke out co-writing Julio Medem\u2019s debut \u201cCows,\u201d back in 1992, before penning many of the films and series by Enrique Urbizu plus Victor Erice\u2019s 2023 \u201cClose Your Eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cChildren of the Monkey,\u201d (Tomasso Landucci)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Seville European Film Festival also highlights movies which merit more recognition. One case in point: Tomasso Landucci\u2019s Venice Horizons Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Riccardo Scamarcio) winner \u201cChildren of the Monkey,\u201d which this time round at Seville scored Best Director. In its portrayal of the dilemma of the father of a disabled son, \u201cChildren of the Monkey\u201d is both deeply felt and impressively sensitive in the way it explores his painful emotional predicament,\u201dDiego Lerer, one of the critics who did catch the film in Venice, wrote in his blog Micropsia.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWild Is the Wind,\u201d (\u201cTralovento,\u201d Eloy Dom\u00ednguez Ser\u00e9n)<\/p>\n

\n\tA second prize for Spain: Galician actress Melania Cruz (\u201cGangs of Galicia\u201d) won her biggest prize to date, scooping best actress for her lead turn in \u201cWild With the Wind.\u201d the feature debut of Eloy Dom\u00ednguez Ser\u00e9n, from a screenplay co-written with top Catalan auteur Meritxell Colell (\u201cFar From the Trees\u201d). Cruz plays Ana, who returns to her home village in rural Galicia after her father\u2019s death, but stays to oppose a utility company\u2019s plans to build a wind farm on community land. Bowing at Mexico\u2019s Morelia Festival, the film won praise, such as in aCriticalia.com review, for its measured pace. Cruz\u2019s performance and nuanced view of the wind farm project.<\/p>\n

\n\tA list of winners at the 23rd Seville European Film Festival, 2026:<\/p>\n

\n\tOFFICIAL SELECTION<\/p>\n

\n\tGolden Giraldillo for Best Film:\u201cYou Don\u2019t Belong Here,\u201d (written and directed by Florin \u015eerban, Romania)<\/p>\n

\n\tGrand Jury Award: \u201cFalling House,\u201d (Mohsen Gharaei, written with Amir Mohammad Abdi, Ir\u00e1n)<\/p>\n

\n\tPuerta Am\u00e9rica Award: \u201cAdult Supervision,\u201d (written and directed by Alex Schulman)<\/p>\n

\n\tSpecial Mention, Puerta Am\u00e9rica Award: \u201cRose,\u201d by Markus Schleinzer, co-written with Alexander Brom<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Direction: \u201cChildren of the Monkey,\u201d (Tommaso Landucci, co-written with Damiano Femfert, Italy)<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Screenplay: Michel Gaztambide, Alejandro Hern\u00e1ndez for \u201cEl Director,\u201d directed by Dani de la Orden, Spain)<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Actress: Melania Cruz for \u201cTralovento,\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Actor: Gustaf Skarsg\u00e5rd, Fares Fares y Linus Wahlgren for<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAdult Supervision\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Editing: Evelyn Rack y Emad Khodabakhsh for \u201cFalling House\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Cinematography: No\u00e9 Bach for \u201cElephants in the Fog.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Art Direction: Bogdan Ionescu for \u201cYou Don\u2019t Belong Here\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOFFICIAL SELECTION SHORT FILMS<\/p>\n

\n\tLive Action: \u201cFresh Cut,\u201d directed by Hadrien Bels, co-written with Jasmine Badr<\/p>\n

\n\tAnimation: \u201cGently,\u201d written and directed by Jamaica Kindlov\u00e1<\/p>\n

\n\tEMBRUJO<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Film Award: \u201cRevolutionaries Never Die,\u201d Mohanad Yaqubi cwritten with Mathilde Rouxel<\/p>\n

\n\tRAMPA<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Film Award; \u201cHouse of the Wind,\u201d directed and written by<\/p>\n

\n\tAuguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu<\/p>\n

\n\tALUMBRAMIENTO<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Film Award: \u201cFour Minus Three,\u201d Adrian Goiginger, co-written with Senad Halilba\u0161i\u0107.<\/p>\n

\n\tPANORAMA ANDALUZ<\/p>\n

\n\tJuan Antonio Berm\u00fadez Best Film Award: \u201cA Man on a Bridge,\u201d written and directed by David Mart\u00edn de los Santos.<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Documentary Award: \u201cComo todo mortal,\u201d written and directed by Mar\u00eda Molina Peir\u00f3.<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Special Mention: \u201c200 Lives: Paco Rabal,\u201d written and directed by Vanessa Ben\u00edtez<\/p>\n

\n\tAudience Award for Best Film, EFA Selection: \u201cCoward,\u201d Lukas Dhont written with Angelo Tijssens.<\/p>\n

\n\tFilm Lovers of the Future Award: \u201cIn Waves,\u201d by Phuong Mai Nguyen from a screenplay by Fanny Burdino and Samuel Doux, based on a graphic novel by AJ Dungo.<\/p>\n

\n\tEuropa Junior Award: \u201cMomonsters. La pel\u00edcula de Navidad,\u201d by Javier Mart\u00ednez and Christian Garnez, written by Mart\u00ednez, David Ram\u00edrez Ros and Maider \u00c1vila<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Romania\u2019s Florin \u015eerban added a Seville Golden Giraldillo to a Golden Leopard at Locarno on Saturday, winning Best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[81039,81040,78975,15,81041,81042,65709,78976],"class_list":["post-181986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-europe","tag-abinash-bikram-shah","tag-alex-schulman","tag-dani-de-la-orden","tag-european","tag-florin-u015eerban","tag-marcus-schleinzer","tag-mohsen-gharaei","tag-seville-european-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}