Cristian Mungiu has won his second Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his English-language debut, Fjord, a drama about child abuse. The Romanian director first won the top prize in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a searing abortion drama.
Fjord Takes Top Prize
Fjord stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as Romanian religious parents who relocate to Norway, where they are accused of child abuse. Mungiu, 58, becomes the 10th director to receive two Palmes d'Or, joining the ranks of Alf Sjöberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Shōhei Imamura, the Dardenne brothers, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach, and Ruben Östlund.
Other Awards
The Grand Prix, or runner-up prize, was awarded to Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, a dark satire of corruption and infidelity in contemporary Russia. The Jury Prize went to Valeska Grisebach's The Dreamed Adventure, a Bulgaria-set drama about an archaeologist.
The director award was shared between Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball. The best actress prize was jointly awarded to Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's care drama All of a Sudden. The best actor prize was shared by Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia for the queer first world war drama Coward.
Festival Highlights
The 79th Cannes film festival was somewhat muted, marked by disappointing returns from several auteurs and a lack of Hollywood glitz. The two US films in competition—James Gray's Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, and Ira Sachs' Aids musical The Man I Love, starring Rami Malek—were ignored by the jury.
Fjord has already been acquired by US distributor Neon, marking their seventh consecutive year taking the top spot. Sean Baker's Anora progressed from winning the Palme two years ago to sweeping the 2025 Oscars.
Jury and Tributes
Park Chan-wook presided over this year's jury, which included Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård, Chloé Zhao, and Paul Laverty. Isabelle Huppert paid special tribute to Barbra Streisand during the closing ceremony.
Streisand was one of three recipients of honorary Palmes d'Or this year, along with Peter Jackson and John Travolta. She was unable to attend due to a knee injury but sent a lengthy video message, concluding: "In this crazy, volatile world that seems more fractured every day, it's reassuring to see the compelling movies at this festival, by artists from many countries. Film has that magical ability to unite us, opening our hearts and minds. I'm so proud to be part of this community, so merci beaucoup and vive la cinema!"
Sidebar Winners
Yesterday, winners in sidebar competitions were announced. Sandra Wollner's Everytime won Un Certain Regard, Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo's Ben'Imana won the Camera d'Or for best first film, and Marine Atlan's La Gradiva won Critics Week. Too Many Beasts by Sarah Arnold won best European film in Directors' Fortnight, while Clio Barnard's I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning won the Audience award.
