Locarno: Marco Cavazzin’s ‘Mutrion’ Scoops Leopards of Tomorrow Award

“Mutrion,” a short film set in the Venice lagoon by 26-year-old Italian director Marco Cavazzin, has scooped the best director award at the Locarno Film Festival’s Pardi di Domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) section.

“Mutrion,” which is the only Italian entry in the section, stars Manfredi Marini, who previously starred in Giovanni Tortorici’s “Nineteen,” and Giulio Maroncelli and is produced by the independent studio Etimo. The short, shot entirely on the lagoon islands, is supported by the Veneto Film Commission and distributed by Italy’s Cattive Produzioni.

“In a lagoon suspended in time, legend has it that sooner or later every inhabitant loses the toenail of their right big toe,” says the synopsis. “It has never happened to Marco. But now that he has returned, something inside him is beginning to crack.”

The story follows Marco (played by Manfredi Marini), who in childhood was nicknamed “Mutrion” (which means “sulky”). Marco left the lagoon area at age twenty. Unlike the other locals, he never lost his toenail. Returning four years later, he faces the community’s tacit expectations and structural isolation, causing something deep within him to fracture as the landscape shifts between physical reality and psychological projection.

“This short stems from the desire to tell a story of return, the attempt to reconnect with a place that has become both familiar and distant over time. In the Venetian lagoon, rituals, superstitions and family stories are still present and continue to shape collective identity,” Cavazzin said in his directors’ statement.

Locarno’s Leopards of Tomorrow selection was judged by a jury panel made up by Lebanese director Mounia Akl; South African producer Steven Markovitz and Italian director Antonio Piazza. Mutrion was the only Italian entry among 20 works from all over the world, including France, the U.K., Iran, Qatar, China, Taiwan, the U.S. and Ukraine.