Masahiro Kobayashi AP PHOTO

Ai no Yokan (The Rebirth) by director Masahiro Kobayashi has won the Golden Leopard at the 60th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.

The work by Kobayashi, 53, is a mostly silent film, which offers a gripping account of unspoken love, pain and survival. It was awarded the prize from among 19 films in the main competition.

It is the first time that a Japanese director has won the festival's main international competition since 1970, when Akio Jissoji was awarded the prize for Mujo (Uncertainty).