Sho Miyake’s ‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’ Wins Golden Leopard In Locarno

Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Tabi to Hibi), directed by Japanese filmmaker Sho Miyake, won the Golden Leopard at this year’s Locarno Film Festival (August 6-16).

Based on a manga by surrealist artist Yoshiharu Tsuge, the film stars Korean actress Shim Eun-kyung as a screenwriter reflecting on her life through a journey sparked by a chance encounter with a stranger.

It’s the fourth Japanese film to win the festival’s top honours following Masahiro Kobayashi’s The Rebirth in 2007, Akio Jissoji’s This Transient Life, which was one of four films to share the prize in 1970, and Teinosuke Kinugasa’s classic Gate Of Hell in 1954.

The special jury prize was awarded to Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s Austria-Germany co-production White Snail, a heavily improvised film that focuses on the relationship between a model and a mysterious loner. It also won a Best Performance award for Marya Imbro and Mikhail Senkov.

Abbas Fahdel was awarded best director for Tales Of The Wounded Land, a documentary about the war in southern Lebanon (see full list of winners below).

The international jury was headed by Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh and also included Mexican filmmer Carlos Reygadas, writer and producer Joslyn Barnes, Swiss actress Ursina Lardi and Dutch actress Renée Soutendijk.

The top prize in the Filmmakers of the Present competition went to Hair, Paper, Water... directed by Belgium’s Nicolas Graux and Vietnam’s Trương Minh Quy (Viet And Nam). The film follows an elderly Rục woman born in a cave more than 60 years ago, who now lives in a village with her many children and grandchildren, and her attempts to pass on her fragile Rục language to her grandchildren.

Guests at the festival this year included UK actress Emma Thompson, who presented her latest film The Dead Of Winter in the Piazza Grande, Willem Dafoe, who came to present his latest film The Birthday Party, Hong Kong star Jackie Chan, Iranian-French star Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar-winning writer-director Alexander Payne, costume designer Milena Canonero and Asian-American star Lucy Liu.

Rosemead, directed by Eric Lin and starring Lucy Liu, was presented with the festival’s audience award, the Prix du Public UBS.

Kamal Aljafari’s documentary With Hasan In Gaza, filmed in Gaza in 2001, won the Europa Cinemas Label best European film prize, through which it will receive support from the Europa Cinemas Network for theatrical distribution.

The 79th Locarno Film Festival will take place August 5-15, 2026.

LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL 2025 WINNERS: 

CONCORSO INTERNAZIONALE:

Pardo d’Oro: Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Tabi To Hibi) by Sho Miyake (Japan)
 
Special Jury Prize: White Snail by Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter (Austria, Germany)
 
Pardo for Best Direction: Abbas Fahdel, Tales Of The Wounded Land (Lebanon)
 
Pardo for Best Performance: Manuela Martelli & Ana Marija Veselčić for God Will Not Help by Hana Jušić (Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France, Slovenia)
 
Pardo for Best Performance: Marya Imbro & Mikhail Senkov for White Snail by Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter (Austria, Germany)
 
Special Mention: Dry Leaf by Alexandre Koberidze (Germany, Georgia)

CONCORSO CINEASTI DEL PRESENTE:

Pardo d’Oro: Hair, Paper, Water… by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý (Belgium, France, Vietnam)

Best Emerging Director Award: Cecilia Kang for Hijo Mayor (Argentina, France)

Special Jury Prize Ciné+: Sweetheart by Margherita Spampinato (Italy)

Pardo for Best Performance: Aurora Quattrocchi for Sweetheart by Margherita Spampinato (Italy)

Pardo for Best Performance: Levan Gelbakhiani for Don’t Let The Sun by Jacqueline Zünd (Switzerland, Italy)

Pardino d’Oro – Best Auteur Short Film: A Very Straight Neck by Neo Sora (Japan, China)

Pardino d’Oro – Best International Short Film: Hyena by Altay Ulan Yang (US)

Pardino d’Argento: Still Playing by Mohamed Mesbah (France)

Pardi di Domani Best Direction Award: Primary Education by Aria Sánchez and Marina Meira (Cuba, Spain, Brazil)

Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award: Force Times Displacement by Angel Wu (Taiwan)

Pardino d’Oro for Best Swiss Short Film: Rio Remains Beautiful by Felipe Casanova (Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland)

Pardino d’Argento for the National Competition: Tusen Toner by Francesco Poloni (Switzerland)

Best Swiss Newcomer Award: L’avant-Poste 21 by Camille Surdez (Switzerland)

Locarno Film Festival Short Film Candidate – European Film Awards: Rio Remains Beautiful by Felipe Casanova (Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland)

Swatch First Feature Award: Blue Heron by Sophy Romvari (Canada, Hungary)

Pardo Verde: Mare's Nest by Ben Rivers (UK, France, Canada)

Special Mentions:
Hair, Paper, Water… by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý (Belgium, France, Vietnam)
A South Facing Window by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia)

Europa Cinemas Label for Best European Film: With Hasan In Gaza by Aljafari Aljafari (Palestine, Germany, France, Qatar)